By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
New LSU football coach Lane Kiffin made his defensive coordinator, Blake Baker, happy on Wednesday.
Kiffin and staff began hosting five top 15 defensive players nationally via the NCAA Transfer Portal on Wednesday in No. 1 defensive lineman James Smith and No. 9 edge Qua Russaw of Alabama, No. 11 defensive lineman Malik Blocton of Auburn (as previously reported) in addition to two more just revealed.
Factually, Lane Kiffin had a slow portal start over the weekend. But it’s a Bullet Train now and has dropped by TUSCALOOSA for a pair of highly ranked defensive players expected at LSU today.https://t.co/pRyVGX8SAB
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) January 7, 2026
Those are No. 10 edge John Henry Daley of Utah and No. 15 edge Jordan Ross of Tennessee.
Daley (6-foot-4, 255 pounds) was a Walter Camp first team All-American in 2025 after leading the nation in tackles for loss with 17.5 and finishing second in sacks with 11.5 amid his 48 stops overall after missing the Utes’ last two games with a leg injury. He also forced two fumbles on strip sacks and broke up a pass.
The No. 51 portal prospect overall could find himself at Michigan, if he doesn’t go to LSU, as his coach at Utah, Kyle Whittingham, retired, then later took the Michigan job. Daley was also a Chuck Bednarik Award semifinalist. He will be a redshirt junior in 2026 after first playing at Brigham Young in 2023 as a reserve and in 2024 at Utah as a backup. He was a three-star prospect out of Lone Peak High in Alpine, Utah, and the No. 9 prospect in the state.
Ross (6-5, 245) made 23 tackles with 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in 2025 as a true sophomore for the Volunteers. He is the No. 89 prospect in the portal.
A five-star prospect out of Vestavia Hills High in Birmingham in 2024, Ross was the No. 9 edge and No. 3 player in Alabama. He played briefly in 2024, making three tackles.
LSU GENERAL MANAGER BILLY GLASSCOCK AMONG HIGHEST PAID
New LSU personnel general manager Billy Glasscock, formerly of Ole Miss with that title, is earning his money this week and for the next week as Kiffin continues to scour the portal looking to completely revamp the roster of the 7-6 Tigers of 2025 and pay the new players the money to get them to LSU.
That is a large part of Glasscock’s job at LSU and previously at Ole Miss, where Kiffin regularly was in the top four in portal classes.
Glasscock’s $3 million salary over three years at LSU, which was originally reported by various outlets in December, makes him one of the highest paid GMs going into the 2026 season. He was making just $425,000 at Ole Miss in 2024 as the GM position continues to rise in value as does the importance of the portal.
Be the first to comment