LSU Football: Why Ed Orgeron isn’t worried about the loss of Joe Brady

LSU football will have a new passing game coordinator in 2020.

One of the smartest moves LSU football head coach Ed Orgeron made in 2019 was hiring Joe Brady to “update” the Tigers’ offense.

Brady was an offensive analyst with the New Orleans Saints when Coach O brought him to Baton Rouge.

The impact that Brady had on LSU’s offense last season was undeniable. In 2018, the Tigers had the No. 38 scoring offense in the nation.

Not bad, but not elite.

In 2019, with Brady’s influence on display, LSU had the No. 1 scoring offense in the nation. The Tigers went from averaging 32 points a game to 48 points a game.

It wasn’t much of a surprise that an NFL team swiped Brady just after the 2019 season. The Carolina Panthers hired the young assistant to be their offensive coordinator under new head coach Matt Rhule.

Orgeron went back to the NFL to replace Brady, bringing in former NFL head coach/offensive coordinator Scott Linehan to be the Tigers’ new passing game coordinator.

Understandably, there are some folks who are concerned about the loss of Brady.

LSU’s offense will undoubtedly regress in 2020 without quarterback Joe Burrow. But how much will it regress because of the loss of Brady? It’s a legitimate question, considering the obvious impact he had on the Tigers’ offense.

Coach O, however, isn’t all that concerned.

Orgeron’s recently spoke with WAFB’s Jacques Doucet and offered plenty of praise for Brady, but he was quick to point out that offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger called 75 percent of the plays.

Coach O then made sure to mention that it’s the players who execute on the field that really deserve the credit.

I couldn’t agree more with Coach O. Here’s the the thing, most programs are running similar plays. And once something is on film, it’s out there. Everyone knew what LSU was running by the third or fourth game last year. It’s all about the players making the plays and the right play calling sequence.

Ensminger deserves a lot of credit for calling the right plays at the right time. I think that’s an overlooked part of an offensive coordinator’s job. It’s almost like a MLB pitcher and his pitch sequencing. If you get too predictable, the opposition will take advantage. Ensminger did a nice job of mixing things up.

And then there’s the players. A play call is only as good as the players on the field executing it. If the play isn’t executed correctly, it doesn’t matter how good the call was — the play will fail.

LSU had a roster full of elite athletes last year. The program lost a lot of talent, but they’re still loaded with elite athletes (that’s the power of Coach O’s recruiting).

Brady’s influence will remain on the Tigers’ offense. But more importantly, Ensminger will still be calling plays and LSU will still have the personnel necessary to execute the calls.

Coach O is confident heading into 2020 for a reason. The nucleus of a great offense is still in tact in Baton Rouge.