LSU 2026 DEFENSIVE OUTLOOK: WILL BLAKE BAKER'S 3RD SEASON BE HIS BEST???

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By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

He's wearing the cleats again, laughing it up as if he wasn't more than double his players' age, running away from kids twice his size during his own drills (almost unheard of), escaping with a Cheshire cat's shit eating grin forever pasted to his medieval face......this is the bizarre & brilliant world of LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker....

....incomparable to most of his coaching peers, on the surface many would say Baker is "Ted Lasso meets Kirby Smart, or Michael Scott combined with Captain Ahab", but those monikers would be disingenuous & inaccurate....

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Still, these are apt comparisons that tie together his wild eyed intensity, fun-loving yet hard nosed mentality; his hilariously strange demeanor while remaining incredibly demanding; his comedic, heartfelt player management backed by inventive, creative, chaotic playcalling, it's no wonder Blake Baker's old school mixed with new school ethos has made him a coaching superstar.

A constant Head Coaching candidate every offseason, Baker is the highest paid assistant coach in America for the second consecutive season, and for damn good reason:

Baker's defensive pedigree produced sustained improvement from year to year, first at Mizzou (from 113th to 25th in scoring defense, ultimately shutting out Ohio State's offense in a New Year's Six bowl in his final game) and now at LSU (from 108th upon arrival to 13th at the end of last year).

Originally fired from his position as linebackers coach by Brian Kelly in late 2021, Baker answered LSU's call to return after Matt House's criminally horrific, historically awful 2023 defensive unit cost Jayden Daniels' LSU a shot at a National Championship.

Baker arrived back at LSU after a fantastic 2 year stint at Mizzou and hit the ground running. The Houston-native with strong Louisiana ties turned around a lost defense, thin on depth & talent, into something far more respectable in 2024, and then in 2025, LSU's defensive coordinator supplied a truly great stopping force.

Baker's 2025 Bayou Bandits were directly responsible for most of LSU's 8 victories, ranking 11th nationally in yards allowed (just 207.5 per game), 13th in scoring defense, 7th against the run (giving up an insane 44 rushing yards per game), even while dealing with a litany of season ending injuries to key starters and battling against their own offense as much as the opposition.

Baker's 2025 unit was thin on depth and still were forced to play an outrageous number of snaps, exhausting and frustrating his hungry squad.

Regardless of their ability to force turnovers, prevent points, and create stops (placing 8th nationally in stop rate), LSU's 2025 pass rush became a major Achilles heel: generating just 27 total sacks from their entire defense (14.5 from LSU's defensive line & edge rushers)....5 fewer sacks than even Matt House's 2023 "crime against football"....

But now, heading into 2026, LSU starting the year by spending over $40 million on premium portal talent, arming Baker with the #1 pass rusher Princewill Umanmielen, a top 3 safety (Ty Benefield, who looks every bit the real deal that AJ Haulcy turned out to be last fall), the SEC's leading returning tackler TJ Dottery, plus returning Tigers such as All-SEC LB & #18 candidate Whit Weeks, the team's leading tackler in 2025: Davhon Keys, and stud DT Dominick McKinley, backed by reliable secondary men Dashawn Spears, Tamarcus Cooley, PJ Woodland and DJ Pickett, fronted by a group of young, talented pass rushers & interior tackles (Jaylen Brown, Jordan Ross and Malik Blocton & Stephiylan Green), alongside an elite power trio of freshmen defensive linemen (Rich Anderson, Deuce Geralds and Lamar Brown), Baker will lead his best overall defensive squad into the apocalyptic flame of 2026.

Baker's Bayou Bandits 3.0 have already asserted themselves during Spring practices, making plays and supplying suffocating defense, as well as working on the Tigers' biggest defensive issue of the post-2019 era: stopping rushing quarterbacks.

Thanks to the RPO-heavy nature of Lane Kiffin and Charlie Weis' offensive setup, Baker's defense are getting in the reps vs the same playcalling that hurt their defense during critical losses over 2024 and 2025.

Following their gap assignments, blessed with a good mix of veterans & youth, steely tackling prowess through the spine & plenty of pace on the outside, practicing against QBs in this system daily, 2026 is LSU's best chance at finally stuffing dual threat opposition quarterbacks.

If Baker's defensive nucleus stay healthy (Weeks, Benefield, Pickett, Keys, Princewill, and Spears), and if LSU's deeper squad of contributors deliver, the Tigers may finally have a defense finish inside the top 10 for the first time since 2016.....

....and if LSU pull it off, the vision of Blake Baker, alongside masterpiece assistants such as DBU Doctor Corey Raymond, rising safeties coach Jake Olsen, and the Myles Garrett-harvesting Chris Kiffin (among others), will play a defining role in the Tigers' 2026 National Championship hunt.

By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

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