Who is Blake Baker? LSU hires Missouri defensive coordinator to take over for Matt House

The person tasked with fixing LSU’s porous defense has been chosen.

Two days after defensive coordinator Matt House was one of several LSU defensive staffers fired following a disastrous 2023 season on that side of the ball, coach Brian Kelly and the Tigers have turned to Missouri defensive coordinator Blake Baker to fill the void.

Baker checks a number of boxes for LSU: He has experience as an SEC defensive coordinator, having spent past two seasons at Missouri. He has familiarity with the region, having coached for several seasons at Louisiana Tech. He has even worked at LSU, serving as the Tigers’ linebackers coach for a season in 2021.

REQUIRED READING: LSU football's Brian Kelly is having a Will Smith moment. Now what? | Toppmeyer

His contributions at Missouri were widely recognized and respected, with Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz thanking Baker publicly on Friday.

“Thank you, Blake for all you did for [Missouri Football],” Drinkwitz wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “Your help in all we’ve accomplished cannot be DENIED! I enjoyed every minute of our journey together – but it’s time for you to go on a new path- Gods Speed! I wish you well!”

At LSU, he’ll have the opportunity to turn around a unit at a program with a proud recent history of producing excellent defenses filled with players who went on to the NFL.

The Tigers languished for much of last season, finishing 81st among 133 FBS programs in scoring defense (28 points allowed per game) and 108th in total defense (416.6 yards allowed per game). That inability to stop or even slow down opposing offenses negated at least some of LSU’s offensive brilliance last season, led by Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels, and helped cause the Tigers to finish the regular season 9-3 and in third place in the SEC West.

As Baker gets ready to join Kelly’s staff in Baton Rouge, here’s everything you need to know about LSU’s new defensive coordinator:

Who is Blake Baker?

The 41-year-old Baker arrives at LSU with nearly 15 years of college coaching experience, all of which has been spent on defense.

For the past two seasons, he was the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Missouri. He was originally hired as just the safeties coach in January 2022, but was promoted to defensive coordinator in late February of that year. In that time, he made a significant impact.

Missouri finished 113th in scoring defense (33.8 points allowed per game) and 106th in total defense (434.7 yards allowed per game) in 2021, the season before his arrival. In Baker’s first season at the helm, he improved the unit to 56th in scoring defense (25.2 points allowed per game) and 34th in total defense (340.8 yards allowed per game).

The Tigers improved once again last season on their way to an 11-2 record and Cotton Bowl victory, finishing 25th in scoring defense (20.8 points allowed per game) and 34th in total defense (336.1 yards allowed per game).

Prior to that, Baker spent one season at LSU, where he was a linebackers coach under Ed Orgeron during his final season as the Tigers’ head coach. Baker has ties to the Tigers beyond that one season: His wife, Roslyn Baker (nee Jones), was an all-SEC soccer player at LSU.

His stint at Missouri wasn’t his first as a Power Five defensive coordinator. Baker was also the defensive coordinator at Miami from 2019-20, where he oversaw units that finished 23rd in scoring defense in 2019 and 51st in 2020. After the 2020 season, Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz, with whom Baker had previously worked at Louisiana Tech and Texas, took over defensive play-calling duties.

The bulk of Baker’s coaching career was spent at Louisiana Tech, where he coached for five seasons from 2014-18, the last four of which were as defensive coordinator. The highlight of that stint came in his final season, when the Bulldogs finished 39th nationally in scoring defense, fourth in sacks per game and 12th in tackles for loss.

Baker, a Houston native who was a three-year starter at linebacker for Tulane, also served as a safeties coach at Arkansas State in 2013 and a graduate assistant at Texas from 2010-12.

REQUIRED READING: LSU football's future at QB bright after Garrett Nussmeier's ReliaQuest Bowl performance

Blake Baker salary

Baker has reportedly agreed to a three-year deal that will pay him $2.5 million annually. That contract will make him the highest-paid assistant coach in college football.

According to a copy of the contract obtained by the The Advocate, LSU paid Baker’s $950,000 buyout at Missouri.

REQUIRED READING: LSU's 'Dress Like Kim Mulkey' night had fans channeling Tigers women's basketball coach

LSU coaching staff

House wasn’t the only LSU defensive coach to lose his job after the 2023 season.

Along with House, defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey, safeties coach Kerry Cooks and cornerbacks coach Robert Steeples were dismissed from their positions, which will give the Tigers a significantly remade defensive staff for the 2024 season.

The defensive assistants still listed in LSU’s coaching directory are John Jancek (defensive line) and Bob Diaco (outside linebackers).

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Blake Baker to LSU football: What to know of Tigers defensive coordinator