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Here's a list I have compiled of potential names for LSU's defensive coordinator position, if it does indeed become open. I have heard a few things here and there that indicate a change is most certainly coming. I'm not necessarily promoting any of these guys for the job, but simply throwing some names out there and giving my thoughts.
Dick Bumpas, defensive coordinator TCU - Bumpas has been at TCU since 2004, and his current team leads the nation in total defense, giving up just 215 yards per game. His defense ranked 15th nationally in 2007 and 2nd nationally in 2006. In 2005, TCU led the nation in takeaways and turnover margin. Bumpas has also coached at the University of Houston and seems like a guy who'd be an asset in recruiting the state of Texas. Bumpas has a phenomenal resume, and looks to be someone who would be more than ready to take over at a place like LSU. However, it's questioned just how involved Bumpas is in TCU's defense because head coach Gary Patterson has a defensive coaching background, so perhaps Patterson is the brains behind TCU's defensive success? I don't really know. Also, Bumpas is 59 years old and hasn't advanced past TCU's defensive coordinator. Does that tell us something?
Vic Koenning, defensive coordinator Clemson - Koenning is a guy I've always had my eye on because he's been very successful in 4 years at Clemson. During his 4 years there, Clemson has finished in the top 25 nationally in scoring defense, rushing defense, total defense, and pass efficiency defense. They finished 9th in the nation last year in total defense and are currently ranked 15th. Before going to Clemson, Koenning was defensive coordinator at Troy. In his last season there (2004), Troy led the nation in interceptions and was 2nd in takeaways. They finished 16th in total defense. He also has some college head coaching experience, leading Wyoming's program from 2000 - 2002. Most significant about Koenning is that unless Clemson interim coach Dabo Swinney is hired as the full time coach, Koenning is about to be unemployed and therefore available to hire. His resume is quite impressive, and he'd be one of my first phone calls if I was Les Miles.
Paul Rhoads, defensive coordinator Auburn - Rhoads is in his first season as Auburn's defensive coordinator, and he's not doing bad. His defense is currently ranked 24 nationally. He was hired from Pitt, where his defense was highly successful last year, ranking 5th nationally. Most remember Rhoads for his last game at Pitt, where they shut down West Virginia's high powered offense. Again, Rhoads probably wouldn't get mentioned if not for the possibility that he might be unemployed at the end of the season.
Ed Orgeron, defensive line coach New Orleans Saints - We all know Orgeron from his days at Ole Miss, where he was a disaster of a head coach. Before his time at Ole Miss, Orgeron was the defensive line coach and ace recruiter for USC. But he was more of a "rah-rah" type coach than a defensvie strategist. Now, he's doing a pretty good job as the Saints' defensive line coach. I'm not sure how I feel about Orgeron running LSU's defense, but I do know that he would be an enormous success on the recruiting trail. He's great as a recruiter and he has a ton of connections to high school football in the state of Louisiana.
Phil Bennett, defensive coordinator Pittsburgh - Bennett is a former defensive coordinator at LSU from the early 1990s. Bennett also served as defensive coordinator at Kansas State, and then later the head coach at SMU. This year, he is the defensive coordinator at Pitt, where his defense is ranked 36th nationally giving up 325 yards per game, average numbers. The truth is that if Bennett didn't have LSU connections, I probably would not have thought of him. His resume is OK, but nothing special and he's probably on the back end of his career.
George Edwards, linebackers coach Miami Dolphins - Edwards coached with Les Miles with the Dallas Cowboys in the late 1990s, and has mostly been an NFL coach. He was defensive coordinator for the Browns in 2003. He received a lot of interest from Miles when Miles was first hired at LSU in 2005.
Karl Dunbar, defensive line Minnesota Vikings - Karl Dunbar is a former defensive lineman at LSU. He was part of LSU's strength and conditioning staff from 2000-2001. He was then hired by Les Miles at Oklahoma State as their defensive line coach. He left there to coach the defensive line for the Chicago Bears. When Miles was hired at LSU, Dunbar came back to LSU to coach the defensive line. He then left for his current post with the Minnesota Vikings. His defensive line has been very successful the past two years, and in 2006 and 2007 the Vikings led the NFL in rushing defense. I would question whether he's ready to become a coordinator; however, he's starting to get mentioned as a possibility to become a coordinator around the NFL. He's also got both the LSU connection and the Les Miles connection.
Joe Tresey, defensive coordinator Cincinnati - Tresey has no ties to LSU, but he's a good young coach that is probably looking to move up the coaching ladder and LSU is certainly a step up from Cincinnati. Tresey coached at Western Michigan under head coach Brian Kelly and he came to Cincinnati with Kelly. In his first season at Cincinnati, Tresey's defense led the nation in turnovers and interceptions. This year, his defense is 18th nationally against the run; however, they're fairly average overall. With head coach Brian Kelly a candidate to get a bigger head coaching job, Tresey may stick with Kelly and go where he goes.
Dewayne Walker, defensive coordinator UCLA - Walker is in his third season as UCLA's defensive coordinator. Last year, his defense ranked 29th in the nation in total defense, and they ranked 33rd in 2006. They are only ranked 51st this year. Before going to UCLA, Walker was the secondary coach for the Washington Redskins. Walker is also known as an outstanding recruiter. Les Miles considered Walker last year before settling on promoting Doug Mallory and Bradley Dale Peveto.
Greg Robinson, former head coach Syracuse - Before Robinson bombed as a college head coach, he was a defensive coordinator both in the NFL and in college. Robinson led the defense on two super bowl winning teams with the Denver Broncos in 1997 and 1998. After that, his defenses regressed considerably. After getting fired from Denver, he landed at the University of Texas where his defenses performed well. He left Texas for Syracuse. Robinson doesn't excite me much, but he's an available defensive coach who has been successful in both college and the NFL.
Mike Nolan, former head coach San Francisco 49ers - This is the longest of long shots but Nolan is a defensive coach who is currently unemployed. He'll most likely land as a defensive coordinator for an NFL team, maybe even the Saints. Nolan was the linebackers coach for the Denver Broncos and then followed head coach Dan Reeves to the New York Giants to become defensive coordinator. He was also defensive coordinator for the Jets and Redskins before really making his mark as the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens. He then became head coach of the 49ers, though he didn't last too long. He does have a tie to LSU, having coached linebackers at LSU for one season before going to the Denver Broncos.
In every game we've played Clemson under Spurrier, except for the score in the '05 game, we've exceeded Clemson's scoring total allowed and yardage total allowed. That's Spurrier versus Koenning. I think VK would be a great DC for y'all.....
Here is the latest poop, repeated from my post under LSU Should Hire...
Three names have surfaced as the leading possibilities - UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker, outgoing Tennessee defensive coordinator John Chavis and outgoing Clemson defensive coordinator Vic Koenning. Scott Rabalais reports that third parties have approached all three candidates on behalf of Miles.
The grapevine is saying that Koenning is going to be the guy LSU hires barring any unforeseen developments, as Walker reportedly prefers to stay on the West Coast and Chavis is being hotly pursued by new Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney. There are some connections between Koenning and LSU, as well; he and Gary Crowton are very good friends going back to the time Koenning was the head coach at Wyoming from 2000-02 and Crowton was at BYU as the head coach. Also, Koenning coached at Memphis when LSU running backs coach Larry Porter was there as a player.
Koenning's defenses at Clemson have been extremely solid and have ranked well nationally in virtually all the major categories despite getting very little help from the offense. Clemson gave up just 16.6 points per game this year, which led the ACC, and their total defense stat of 294.8 was also among the national leaders. From a pass defense standpoint one could expect a Koenning defense to look totally different from what LSU put on the field this year; opponents had just 5.1 yards per pass attempt against Clemson, which is an incredible number, and only 9.1 yards per completion. What that says is you can't throw deep on this team and they will force you to sustain long drives.
If that sounds like bend-but-don't-break, it probably is to some extent. I don't think this guy is a big proponent of bringing seven guys and blitzing every down. But that having been said, LSU blitzed an enormous amount this year and it didn't work. Koenning's reputation is that his guys are extremely fundamentally sound, don't blow coverages, tackle well and swarm to the ball, and they create turnovers. This year, for example, Clemson picked off 18 passes - three times the number LSU picked off - and they forced 24 fumbles, recovering 13 of them. When you're turning offenses over at that rate, you're OK playing a little bit of bend-but-don't-break.
Koenning, supposedly, IS good at what he does. His numbers bear that out. And I have long been of the strong opinion that when LSU hires coaches whose resumes show a pattern of strong performance, those coaches succeed at very high levels here. Koenning fits the bill.
Speculation: New Defensive Coordinator at LSU 
Hybrid Mode
