LSU’s Blake Baker Is Holding Out For A “Final Destination” Head Coaching Job

December 8, 2025 Glenn Guilbeau LSU Football News 0
LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker turned down the head coaching job at his alma mater Tulane last week to remain with the Tigers and become the highest paid assistant coach in college football. (Tiger Rag photo by Jonathan Mailhes).

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

The way Blake Baker envisions it is … LSU is Alabama with Lane Kiffin as Nick Saban to his Kirby Smart.

“I see myself on the Kirby Smart plan,” LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker said on 104.5 FM Radio in Baton Rouge Monday to former Tiger co-hosts Jacob Hester and Matt Flynn.

“When I leave this job, I want it to be the ultimate stop – the final destination,” Baker said after turning down the head coaching job at his alma mater Tulane over the weekend to remain with the Tigers and with Kiffin, who began his second week as LSU’s head coach on Monday. And Baker likely could have had the Memphis head coaching job, if he kept his name in it.

Smart won national championships in 2021 and ’22 as Georgia’s head coach after serving as Alabama’s defensive coordinator from 2008-15 under Saban. Smart also coached defensive backs for Saban at LSU in the 2004 season. After turning down the Auburn job during the 2012 season before Auburn hired Gus Malzahn, Smart accepted the head coaching job at his alma mater Georgia before the 2016 season. South Carolina was also interested in Smart in 2015 before Georgia entered the picture, and South Carolina then hired Will Muschamp, another former Saban assistant at LSU.

The Crimson Tide won national championships in 2009, ’11, ’12 and ’15 with Smart calling the defensive plays. Kiffin was calling plays as well as Alabama’s offensive coordinator from 2014-16.

Smart has his current Georgia team poised for a third national crown under him as the Bulldogs (11-1) are SEC champions after a win over Alabama Saturday and headed to the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 (7 p.m., ESPN) as the No. 3 seed in the College Football Playoff. The winner of No. 6 seed Ole Miss (11-1) and No. 11 seed Tulane (11-2) in an opening round CFP game on Dec. 20 (2:30 p.m., TNT) in Oxford will advance to the Sugar Bowl.

Baker, 33, will be entering his third season as LSU’s defensive coordinator after steady improvement through his first two seasons following two seasons as Missouri’s DC. Former LSU coach Brian Kelly hired Baker from Missouri following the 2023 season. He just signed a new, three-year contract with the Tigers for $9.3 million, making him the highest paid assistant coach in college football.

“It’s never just one thing,” Baker said when asked about his decision to stay at LSU. “It’s never cut and dry as some people may feel it’s supposed to be. But it starts with my family, sitting and talking with them. Kids are 10, 8 and 6 now. We’re extremely happy here, love the community, love the support of Baton Rouge. All those things played a major role, especially as many times as we’ve moved in the last five years. Happy wife, happy life, right?”

Baker is married to Mandeville native Roslyn Jones, who was an All-SEC soccer player at LSU.

Before Missouri, Baker was linebackers coach at LSU just in the 2021 season – the last under coach Ed Orgeron, who was fired during that season before finishing the regular season. He was at Louisiana Tech from 2014-18, including the last three years as DC. After playing linebacker at Tulane from 2000-04, the Houston native coached in 2009 at Clear Springs High in Houston before working as a graduate assistant at Texas from 2010-12. He was safeties coach at Arkansas State in 2013.

“Part of it was loyalty to current players and the recruiting class,” Baker said.

While Baker was making up his mind last week, Kiffin was trying to sign two of the top defensive linemen in the nation – No. 1 overall prospect Lamar Brown, who plays defensive tackle, of University High in Baton Rouge, and No. 1 defensive lineman Richard Anderson of Edna Karr High in New Orleans.

Kiffin got both of them, and had Baker left, it could’ve been a deal breaker with one or both of them.

“News had broke that I was taking the Tulane job,” Baker said. “Had a lot of the current players texting me and calling me, wondering what was going on. You’re sitting here telling guys that you’re going to be here next year, and, ‘We need you to sign on the dotted line.’ And I just couldn’t look at myself in the mirror and say those things, and then up and leave in the next 24 hours. But those things all cross your mind.”

In two years at LSU, Baker has expertly shaved more than 100 yards off what the Tigers allowed in 2023 under former defensive coordinator, which was 416.6 yards a game for 105th in the nation out of 134 major programs. Under Baker, LSU finished 61st in total defense in 2024 with 364.4 yards allowed a game. This season, Baker’s unit finished 25th nationally in yards allowed a game at 319.7

“I feel like we have unfinished business here,” Baker said. “Not only from an overall team standpoint, but from a defensive standpoint.”

LSU finished the 2025 regular season at 7-5 (3-5 SEC) after a preseason No. 9 ranking. The Tigers will play No. 21 Houston (9-3, 6-3 Big 12) in the Texas Bowl in Houston on Saturday, Dec. 27 (8:15 p.m., ESPN).



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