Panthers coaches Jake Peetz and DJ Mangas were hired to lead the LSU attack, the school announces | LSU

Carolina Panthers quarterback coach Jake Peetz has been hired as the next offensive coordinator for LSU, the university announced on Wednesday.

LSU and Peetz reached an agreement quickly, just days after the regular NFL season ended on Sunday. Peetz interviewed LSU on Tuesday, along with offensive assistant DJ Mangas, whom LSU also announced that he had been hired as a pass game coordinator.

Peetz, 37, is a native of Nebraska, a former longtime player and Cornhuskers cornerback, who has spent seven seasons as an assistant in the NFL, four in the NCAA, most of whom as a defender.

Peetz also spent time creating successful game plans behind the scenes at the college level, twice as an offensive analyst in Alabama in 2013 and 2018.

He started his NFL career as a scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2008, under the command of then coach Jack Del Rio – a connection to LSU coach Ed Orgeron, whose close friend and former Northwestern State teammate Bobby Hebert, played with Del Rio with the New Orleans Saints from 1985-86.

“We are thrilled that Coach O has given us the opportunity to move our family to Baton Rouge and be part of the LSU football program,” Peetz said in a statement on Wednesday. “Dealing with coach O and (sports director) Scott Woodward during this process showed me the commitment to winning more national championships and I am grateful to be a part of that.”

But it is Peetz and Mangas’ ties to former LSU pass coordinator Joe Brady that make them Orgeron’s main targets.

Orgeron told WNXX-FM “Off the Bench” on Tuesday that Derek Ponamsky, LSU’s special assistant to Orgeron, was in contact with Brady during the search, hoping to find candidates who can replicate the schemes that Brady and the former offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger drove when the Tigers won the program’s fourth national championship.

“Joe, who can execute your attack?” Orgeron said that Ponamsky asked Brady. “And he recommended two guys to me, and they’re here with me today.”

Mangas spent a season as an offensive analyst at LSU in 2019, joining the Tigers team after serving for two seasons as an offensive coordinator at William & Mary. He played as a wide receiver for the 2008-11 Tribe, where he was a companion to Brady, who played from 2009-12.

“Both Jake and DJ are highly recommended by one of the most important and innovative attacking coaches in the game, Joe Brady,” Orgeron said in a statement on Wednesday.

Can Peetz and Mangas execute Brady’s attack? That will be the key issue on that side of the ball that enters the 2021 season. It is a crucial year for Orgeron, who will enter the season under scrutiny after leading the Tigers to a disappointing 5-5 record in defense of the program’s title in 2020 .

Most of the problems stemmed from a historically poor defense, a unit that gave up its highest average per game in points and yards in school history and eventually led LSU to part ways with former defensive coordinator Bo Pelini after one season.

Still, LSU’s offense was often inconsistent during the season. It popped in spots even before defender Myles Brennan started suffering an abdominal injury at the end of the season four games in the season against Missouri.

The Tigers had a 0-10 victory in their third defeat against Missouri and were defeated in a fourth and goal attempt that would almost certainly seal the victory in the 45-41 defeat.

Offensive firepower decreased significantly after Brennan’s injury. LSU scored just 25.1 points per game for the remainder of the season, which included a disappointing four-game period against Auburn, Arkansas, Texas A&M and Alabama in which the Tigers averaged 13 points per game.

LSU had a third-to-down conversion rate of 33.8% in these four games, and the attack was often stagnant and ineffective with a total of three and three.

LSU ended the season in 102nd place nationally in third down conversions (34.62%) and a touchdown conversion rate of 52.9% in the red zone which was ranked 104th nationally and was a substantial drop in the conversion rate in 2019 (78.67%).

Third descents and red zones were the responsibility of former pass game coordinator Scott Linehan, with whom LSU split after a season. Linehan, 57, is expected to pay the remainder of his two-year contract, $ 800,000 a year, an acquisition of approximately $ 1 million.

Linehan played the same role as Brady, who won the Broyles Award for best assistant coach in the country, and it is Brady’s influence on Peetz that Orgeron hopes will rejuvenate the Tigers attack this time.

Ensminger, who voluntarily retired from field training, will still remain on the team, preparing game plans as an off-field analyst.

“I believe in Joe and what he did,” said Orgeron. “I believe in Coach Ensminger. I thought those guys worked really well together two years ago. I thought this year we lost a little bit of that, but that was just because of Joe’s experience, and I want to go back to that offense.”

Many of LSU’s best offensive players left the team for the NFL draft or entered the NCAA transfer portal, but Peetz still has a strong core of veterans in addition to young players who burst at the end of the season.

Brennan, entering his fifth year at LSU, is on his way to return as a full-back, although Orgeron said he has not yet fully recovered from his injury.

Ty Davis-Price and John Emery, LSU’s two main rushers, are entering their third season on campus. The Tigers’ accelerated attack dropped significantly from 2019 to 2020, dropping from 60th to 109th nationally, with just 121.7 yards per game.

There are promising young talents in the backfield, along with Davis-Price and Emery. True freshmen Josh Williams and Tre Bradford had remarkable plays in LSU’s final two games, and Tigers signed two of the top 10 running backs in the country, Armoni Goodwin and Corey Kiner, in the 2021 recruiting class.

LSU enters the off-season without any of its initial recipients from last year: Ja’Marr Chase, the winner of the 2019 Biletnikoff Prize, gave up before the season started; Receiving star Terrace Marshall chose to leave after the Texas A&M game; Race McMath, who was injured in the Arkansas game, declared himself in favor of the NFL draft; and tight end Arik Gilbert, a former five-star recruit, gave up after the Alabama game and ended up on the NCAA transfer portal.

Orgeron said on Tuesday that he had kept in touch with Gilbert and his family, expressing that “we still want him to come back”. LSU still has four tight pockets coming back, plus recruit three stars Jalen Shead, but none have Gilbert’s ability to make explosive moves.

LSU’s wide receiver body has shown that it can still be powerful with its next round of players.

The real freshman Kayshon Boutte must lead a group that includes Jaray Jenkins, Koy Moore and Trey Palmer. The 1.8m and 185 pound Boutte set a school and Southeast Conference record with 308 yards of reception at the end of the season against Ole Miss, and recorded 27 receptions for 527 yards and four touchdowns in the final three games.

Perhaps most importantly, Orgeron succeeded in retaining attackers who could have gone on to the NFL draft. So far, center Liam Shanahan, right guard Chasen Hines and left guard Ed Ingram have declared that they will return to LSU in 2021. Left tackle Dare Rosenthal and right tackle Austin Deculus have not yet announced their intentions.

Mangás expressed his belief in LSU’s offensive potential.

“I was lucky to be part of the 2019 team and see exactly what this attack and these players are capable of,” said Mangas. “I’m excited to see the potential we have for the 2021 attack.”