The perspective of LSU’s search for football for a new defensive coordinator to replace Bo Pelini is not good now.
LSU missed its primary target – former Cincinnati Bearcats defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman – after it looked like they were close to hiring him.
Freeman ended up taking on the role of defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, rather than joining Ed Orgeron’s team in Baton Rouge.
This was not really a surprise. Freeman is from the Midwest and has connections to Notre Dame. The Irish would always be the favorites on LSU simply because of the geography. This was completely out of Coach O’s control.
But what about LSU’s latest failure?
LSU football missing from Ryan Nielsen is more than understandable
On Monday, it looked like the Tigers finally had their replacement for Pelini.
New Orleans Saints defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen was “finalizing a deal” to become LSU’s new defensive coordinator.
And then things changed.
New Orleans reportedly delayed the deal because of the language in Nielsen’s contract that essentially allowed the Saints to stop him from going to LSU.
While LSU was trying to resolve these issues, Saints assistant coach / hardhead coach Dan Campbell agreed to become the next Detroit Lions coach.
Campbell’s departure from New Orleans gave the Saints the opportunity to give Nielsen a new contract and a new title (he is now the assistant coach in New Orleans).
There is simply no way for LSU to compete with that.
Look, there’s a reason for the guys to try to get to the NFL. It is because it is a better job. It’s more about football and less about recruiting. And that is a big draw for many guys (especially with the transfer portal becoming a factor, which means that teams have to recruit their own players).
The Tigers’ search will continue. But it is not because this search is a mess. Far from it. Things just didn’t work out for very legitimate reasons.
Eventually, Orgeron will find the right fit and everything will fall into place.