LSU Football: Tigers already have their next offensive coordinator on staff
By Zach Ragan
LSU football hired Jake Peetz this offseason to replace Steve Ensminger as the program’s offensive coordinator.
It may seem a bit odd to say this, but if Ed Orgeron is wise, he’s already thinking about who will take Peetz’s spot as The Tigers’ offensive coordinator in the future.
(All the great coaches are always thinking a step ahead.)
If Peetz is successful at LSU, then he won’t be the offensive coordinator in Baton Rouge for long. He’ll likely return to the NFL as an offensive coordinator (probably under Joe Brady, whenever he inevitably is hired as a head coach), or he’ll secure a gig as a head coach at the collegiate level.
That’s how it goes in college football — good offensive coordinators don’t stick around for long.
But fortunately for Orgeron, LSU’s next offensive coordinator is possibly already on staff.
Who will be LSU football’s next offensive coordinator?
Whenever Peetz moves on from LSU, the logical move would be to promote DJ Mangas — who is currently LSU’s passing game coordinator — to offensive coordinator.
Mangas was Brady’s right-hand man at LSU in 2019 and with the Carolina Panthers in 2020 (where Brady served as the franchise’s offensive coordinator). He would be the perfect option to take over the offense from Peetz (who was also in Carolina with Mangas and Brady in 2020).
Promoting Mangas would mean that LSU would have a passing game coordinator position open.
The best move then would be to bring in Russ Callaway, who worked as an analyst with LSU in 2020, to serve as passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach.
Callaway was expected to be promoted to an on-field role in 2021, but the hiring of Peetz and Mangas eliminated that possibility.
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Hopefully, the Tigers get a couple of years out of the Peetz/Mangas combination. But if LSU has a great offensive year in 2021, I’d wager that Peetz will be an in-demand coach.
That’s why it’s a good thing that LSU already has a great option in place to take over the offense from Peetz.