Mizzou defensive coordinator accepts job at LSU
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Just weeks after signing a contract extension with Mizzou, defensive coordinator Blake Baker is headed to LSU. He will serve, once again, as a defensive coordinator for a Tiger team, after two years in Columbia.
It is LSU head coach Brian Kelly's first move since firing his entire defensive staff at the conclusion of the 2023 season.
On Twitter, Mizzou football coach Eli Drinkwitz said, "Within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition! Mizzou football is a brotherhood that is STRONG! Our search for a new leader of DEATH ROW Defense has begun!"
Baker is no stranger to the Baton Rouge Tigers, as he spent on season coaching linebackers there, under former head coach Ed Orgeron in 2021. From there, he accepted a job as Mizzou's safeties coach and quickly got promoted to defensive coordinator.
In his time with MU, his defenses finished as No. 34 in total defense, each year. His group allowed 341 yards per game in 2023 and 336 yards per game in 2022. In a short period of time, he made a complete turnaround, after the Tigers moved on from current San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.
The signature of a Baker-led defense was havoc and MU caused a lot of it. The Tigers finished the 2023 season with 40 sacks, with defensive end Darius Robinson ranking third in the SEC with nine of them on the year. His group was also intent on forcing more turnovers and ended up coming away with nine interceptions and 11 fumble recoveries in his second year at the helm of the defense.
Going to Louisiana will be like going home, in a sense, for Baker and his family, though. He coached at LSU for a season, was the defensive coordinator at Louisiana Tech for a time and played college football at Tulane. His wife was also a former All-SEC soccer player for LSU.
He came to Mizzou with six years of experience as a defensive coordinator – two at Miami (2019, 2020) and four at Louisiana Tech (2015-18). In addition to his coordinator duties with Miami and Louisiana Tech, Baker also coached the linebackers at both schools.
The news comes just 15 days after Drinkwitz announced contract extensions for both Baker and offensive coordinator Kirby Moore. The details of Baker's contract have not been made public yet, but in the days leading up to MU's Cotton Bowl win, Baker said he never planned on leaving Mizzou.
"Has to do with my happiness and my family's happiness," he said. "I never really considered, you know, going anywhere else."
Drinkwitz and Mizzou will now be on the hunt for a new defensive coordinator, before the 2024 season.
