LSU Football: Brian Kelly could be adding another Louisiana native to his on-field coaching staff
By Zach Ragan
New LSU football head coach Brian Kelly is still working on finalizing his inaugural Tigers coaching staff.
Earlier this week, LSU announced the hiring of Kansas City Chiefs linebackers coach Matt House as the program’s new defensive coordinator.
House served as the Kentucky Wildcats’ defensive coordinator from 2017-2018.
In 2018, the Wildcats had the No. 6 scoring defense in the nation, giving up only 16.8 points per game.
Brian Kelly is getting closer to filling out his LSU football coaching staff
Kelly is taking his time filling out his coaching staff — he’s not rushing any hires.
So far, the only defensive coaches that have been hired by Kelly are House and former Oklahoma/Notre Dame co-Defensive coordinator Kerry Cooks (who will likely serve as LSU’s defensive backs coach).
Former NFL cornerback Robert Steeples, who served as an assistant special teams coach for the Minnesota Vikings last season, has also been hired by LSU. But it’s unclear if he will serve in an on-field role.
According to 247Sports’ Shea Dixon, Kelly might be close to adding another defensive assistant to his staff.
Dixon reported this week that Derrick LeBlanc could be joining Kelly’s staff as the Tigers’ defensive line coach.
LeBlanc was a graduate assistant at LSU in 2000 under Nick Saban. He was also an assistant strength and conditioning coordinator for the Tigers from 2008-2011 under Les Miles.
The Louisiana native was the defensive line coach at Kentucky from 2017-2019 where he worked with House.
LeBlanc’s last job was as Sam Pittman’s defensive line coach at Arkansas in 2020.
If LeBlanc is hired by LSU, he’ll join Frank Wilson and Brad Davis as other Louisiana natives on Kelly’s staff.
Andre Carter is currently serving as the Tigers’ defensive line coach. And he was a key reason that LSU landed four-star defensive lineman Quency Wiggins during the early signing period.
#LSU signee @Quencywiggins says he decided this morning to sign with the Tigers. Wiggins says he had some anxiety and questions, once Coach O was fired and not knowing what would happen with Andre Carter. But Brian Kelly won he over and convinced him to sign. @LSUfootball
— Jacques Doucet (@JacquesDoucet) December 15, 2021
It’s unclear what Kelly told Wiggins about the defensive line coach situation, but it doesn’t appear that Carter will be returning to LSU in 2022.
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Kelly is putting his own spin on his new coaching staff, but he’s making sure he has plenty of Louisiana connections. That’s a wise move by the new Tigers head coach — those connections will prove to be invaluable in recruiting.