LSU Football: Ed Orgeron reaches out to Dave Aranda for advice

LSU football head coach Ed Orgeron has leaned heavily on former assistants this offseason as he fills staff vacancies.

The Tigers hired Jake Peetz and DJ Mangas earlier this month to serve as the program’s new offensive coordinator and passing game coordinator, respectively.

Peetz and Mangas were both hired away from the Carolina Panthers. They popped up on Orgeron’s radar because of Joe Brady, the former LSU passing game coordinator who is now the Panthers’ offensive coordinator.

Brady recommended Peetz and Mangas to Orgeron.

That’s not the only former assistant that Coach O reached out to this offseason, either.

Ed Orgeron calls up former LSU football defensive coordinator

The deal isn’t officially finished yet (as of Tuesday afternoon), but it appears that the Tigers are about to hire Minnesota Vikings defenisve backs coach Daronte Jones as LSU’s new defensive coordinator.

Jones doesn’t have a direct connection to Orgeron, but he does have a connection to a former Tigers assistant.

Orgeron said on Tuesday morning, during an interview on 104.5 ESPN in Baton Rouge, that Jones is in the mix because of former LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda.

Coach O said Aranda, who is now the head coach at Baylor, recommended Jones for the defensive coordinator position. Aranda and Jones worked together at Wisconsin in 2015 (Aranda was the defensive coordinator for the Badgers, while Jones was the defensive backs coach).

I love that Orgeron called Aranda to get some advice on who to hire. It shows that Coach O isn’t getting tunnel vision on any candidates. He’s doing his due dilligence, having conversations and looking at this search from a different view.

And that’s the main reason I think Orgeron is going to nail this hire. Instead of taking the easy way out and pursuing a former LSU assistant (it was Bo Pelini last year, it could’ve been Will Muschamp this year), Coach O is taking a well-calculated risk that I think will pay off big time.