LSU Football: Ed Orgeron was clearly over Dave Aranda in Baton Rouge

LSU football will have a new defensive coordinator in 2020.

LSU football won it all in 2019 because of a prolific offense that didn’t require a strong effort from the defense.

That’s not to say the Tigers’ defense was bad. They just didn’t necessarily need to be dominant, thanks to LSU’s record-breaking offense.

And they weren’t.

The Tigers’ had the No. 32 scoring defense in the nation in 2019. Good, but not great.

Dave Aranda, who served as LSU’s defensive coordinator in 2019, left Baton Rouge earlier this year to become the head coach at Baylor. It’s a move that worked out well for Aranda and LSU.

Aranda is a good coach. He’s a smart guy. But he’s not exactly a great fit at LSU under Coach O.

However, if Aranda wouldn’t have been hired at Baylor, he’d probably still be in Baton Rouge. There was no way he was going to be fired. But LSU obviously needed to head in a new direction.

LSU football head coach Ed Orgeron can’t hide his excitement over Bo Pelini

Coach O hired former LSU defensive coordinator/Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini to replace Aranda.

Pelini is instantly a better fit for Orgeron’s staff. He’s fiery and passionate (not words that would be used to describe Aranda) and his philosophy matches up better with Coach O’s.

It’s clear that Orgeron feels the same way. He knows that Aranda wasn’t the best choice to lead the Tigers’ defense.

“We are so much better on defense right now than any part of the season last year,” said Orgeron this week (via 247Sports).

“I feel Bo Pelini coming in, he’s brought a new energy, a new excitement, the 4-3. Dave Aranda did a tremendous job for us, but I’m glad we moved to the 4-3. We’re more attacking style of defense, using our personnel.”

Aranda helped LSU win a championship. And he’ll always have a place in Tiger history because of that.

But it was time to move in a new direction. And I feel confident in saying that Coach O chose the right direction.