Which LSU Assistants Might The New LSU Coach Keep? Here Are 3 Candidates | Andre Champagne

ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter

Whoever becomes the next head football coach at LSU may have to make some difficult decisions as it pertains to the coaching staff. The Tigers’ staff has a few coaches who need to be retained.

But LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry can’t exactly put forth an edict of what coaches to keep to his prime candidates, particularly if he is interviewing someone as established and rising as Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, who is playoff bound at No. 5 in the nation and 10-1 on the season.

So, instead of trying to fire Brian Kelly again, shouldn’t LSU focus more in replacing him? With someone who sure sounds interested – minus all the Drama Gumbo. COLUMN:https://t.co/ROXpG8JIMw

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) November 12, 2025

Ultimately, that is the new head coach’s decision, and most want to bring in their own people. Do not look for more than two, maybe three at the most to be retained. And it could be only one.

“I couldn’t be more overjoyed for our team.”
-Frank Wilson:https://t.co/Fq9eP29Ex5

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) November 16, 2025

First things first, it’s no secret that interim head coach Frank Wilson has all the love in the world for LSU. In fact, he left McNeese State, where he was the head coach, to come back to LSU to be an assistant on just-hired Brian Kelly’s staff after the 2021 season when Kelly left Notre Dame. Wilson, though, was not exactly ripping it up at McNeese State as he was 7-11 overall and 5-9 in the Southland Conference in two seasons. He also got a hefty raise.

There was noticeable improvement in some aspects of the Tigers’ performance in his first two games as interim coach. The defense played better in a 20-9 loss at No. 4 Alabama, but the offense still played in the red zone as if Kelly was still the coach. Wilson then directed an impressive, come-from-behind-twice, 23-22 win over Arkansas, but the Razorbacks (2-8, 0-6 SEC) are probably the worst team in the SEC.

It could be essential that the new coach keeps Wilson as recruiting coordinator. He is able to get everything out of his players and is a valuable motivator and has relationships with many players on the roster. So far, he has kept the Tigers’ Class of 2026 together amid much turmoil on and off the field.

Retaining just Wilson won’t be enough to save the roster, but it’s a start.

The second coach who may deserve spot on the next coaching staff is second-year defensive coordinator Blake Baker. The Tigers’ defense has not been perfect this season, but Baker has played a major role in rebuilding the mean, physical and tough unit that LSU has been known for at times historically. And he has cleaned up for the most part the mess that was the 2023 defense under DC Matt House that Baker inherited.

In Baker’s first season as the defensive coordinator in 2024, he began his transformation of the defense, a unit that shaved more than 50 yards per game from its average yards allowed in 2023. This season, his defense ranks No. 20 in scoring defense (19 points a game) and No. 38 in total defense (327.9 yards allowed a game).

Baker, similar to Wilson, is a coach for whom LSU players are willing to fight and play hard. Baker is a hands-on defensive coordinator as well. He wears cleats to practice and participates in drills with the team, which is something the players love. He embraced Wilson’s demand for more physical practices when he took over as interim coach.

Retaining Baker as the defensive coordinator would be a major win for LSU’s new head coach as the former successful Missouri DC will be sought after around the country. If LSU hires Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, Baker would likely love to stay.

But if LSU hires Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, he will likely bring defensive coordinator Pete Golding, who is one of the best in the business. Golding left Alabama to work for Kiffin at Ole Miss before the 2023 season. And he’s a native of Hammond.

The third coach that should be retained is defensive backs coach Corey Raymond. Known for recruiting and coaching, he is a necessity. Raymond is one of the best recruiters in the country, and he played in the NFL for seven seasons and has coached in the SEC for 12 years.

Raymond helped produce some of the best defensive backs LSU has had – such as seven first team All-Americans in Eric Reid (2012), Jalen Mills (2015), Jamal Adams (2016), Tre’Davious White (2016), Greedy Williams (2018), Grant Delpit (2018, 2019) and Derek Stingley (2019, 2020).

He has also helped put many in the NFL, such as the above, along with Tyrann Mathieu, Donte Jackson, Kristian Fulton and Jay Ward

The new coach doesn’t need to make the same mistake Kelly when he took over and let Raymond get away to Florida.

A new coach retaining four assistants would be a reach, but should one or two of the above not stay, wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton is worthy of some consideration. Hankton is a valuable recruiter and helped develop LSU first round receivers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas, Jr. as each improved as their career went on at LSU.

Unlike Kelly, the new coach should at least interview every current LSU assistant. Whether he keeps an assistant or not, that assistant has knowledge of where the program was and where it could go. And like Nick Saban used to say, “I may not hire you now, but I could hire you in the future.”