After four years leading LSU’s defense, coordinator Dave Aranda leaves to take on the recently vacant head coaching job at Baylor.
Aranda was highly regarded, and as such was the best-paid coordinator in the country. LSU beat writer for the USA Today Network Glen Guilbeau says Aranda was a talented guy who did a lot of good for the Tigers.
“He’s one of the best defensive coordinators,” said Guilbeau. “He did have an up and down year this past season, some of his plans were even criticized by Coach O early in the season, but he clearly finished strong, some of his best games were some of his last few games, so he’s a big loss.”
Aranda ran a top 30 defense each of his four years at the school.
But Guilbeau says he’s not irreplaceable, and he’s not even as big a loss as the recent departure of Joe Brady. He expects the position to be filled with another bright defensive mind.
“Coach O knows defense, he’s an excellent hirer of assistant coaches that’s one of the best things he’s done at LSU, I’m sure he’s going to find a great hire there,” said Guilbeau.
Aranda has been a sought after hire for years now, and recently was interested in taking over UNLV’s program. Guilbeau says now is a good time for him to take the next step.
“This is a good start for him, when he looks at some places he’s worked, Wisconsin and LSU, those are some good places to learn your craft,” said Guilbeau.
Aranda takes over for a program that just lost Matt Rhule to the Carolina Panthers. That departure led to the poaching of LSU offensive wunderkind Joe Brady.
