When Texas’ Bo Davis was suggested as a potential defensive line coach, it was always Brian Kelly and the Tigers’ first choice.
Kelly has now made his hire of the year. Davis is anticipated to become the new defensive line coach at LSU and join the Bayou Bengals. The revelation was initially reported by Wilson Alexander of The Advocate.
Sources tell LSU Country that an official announcement might occur as soon as Wednesday.
After attending LSU for his collegiate career and working as a strength and conditioning coach, Davis became one of the best defensive line coaches in the country.
He made the Longhorns into one of the best defensive fronts in the nation while he was at Texas.
During his career, he worked for Nick Saban’s staffs for ten years, and since 2021, he has been the Texas head coach.
Texas made it to the College Football Playoffs in 2023 thanks in large part to their strong defense. Following a stellar season, Davis has now made his move. He’s going back to Baton Rouge to work with Kelly on the defensive end.
Following the hire of Blake Baker, the defensive coordinator for Missouri, Kelly has made two more heinous decisions in a week.
After spending the previous two seasons as Missouri’s safeties coach and defensive coordinator, Baker now works for LSU. In 2021, Baker served as LSU’s linebackers’ coach. Before that, he was the defensive coordinator at Louisiana Tech from 2015–18 and Miami (Fla.) from 2019–20. He joins the LSU staff with eight years of experience as a defensive coordinator.
“Throughout his career, Blake has been a successful defensive coordinator, and he has spent the last two years at Missouri in the SEC,” Kelly said. He is unique in his field because of his capacity to create very effective defenses while also developing and inspiring his players. It gives me great pleasure to greet Blake and his family back in Baton Rouge.
Missouri as a team finished No. 5 in the league in both rushing defense (122.8) and total defense (336.1) in 2023. The Tigers also rated No. 4 in the SEC in scoring defense (20.8 points per game). Missouri was first in the SEC, fourth nationally in forced fumbles (17), and eleventh in the country in sacks (39). The Tigers ranked in the top 20 nationally in tackles for loss (No. 18 with 88) and fumbles recovered (No. 16 with 10).