When Lane Kiffin accepted the LSU job, and decided he was bringing his offensive coaching staff with him, it became clear that he had one top priority. Brian Kelly made the mistake of letting Blake Baker leave when he took the LSU job, and it ended up costing him when he needed to hire him back to lead the defense.
The issue for Lane Kiffin became that Blake Baker's incredible transformation of the LSU defense didn't just make him a top candidate for Defensive Coordinator jobs. This week, Blake Baker was one of the top candidates for the Tulane head coaching job which was troublesome for LSU as it's Baker's alma mater.
During this week's Early Signing Day period, several of LSU's top commits wanted answers on who would be coaching them next season. On Friday Night, after Lane Kiffin was able to lock in LSU's class, the top commits got the answer they were looking for at defensive coordinator.
Blake Baker staying at LSU is an incredible first win for Lane Kiffin
On Friday Night, Lane Kiffin jumped on Twitter/X and confirmed reports that Blake Baker would be remaining with the Tigers breaking down how big of a win it was for LSU.
Sorry couldn’t make it to Atlanta, but so excited that I stayed to finish this all up!! @CoachBlakeBaker is going nowhere !!!! 🐯
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) December 6, 2025
What a really long amazing Friday for @LSUfootball #ItsDifferent https://t.co/Z84PhdeGVz
Lane Kiffin told everyone that he had to stay in Baton Rouge to finish a few things, but missing an interview to instead sign the Nation's top-ranked recruit, Lamar Brown, and two other Top-100 recruits, along with retaining Blake Baker, is a perfect trade.
Blake Baker has turned an LSU defense from one of the worst units in the Country to one of the best in just two seasons. The Tigers' defense will need to rebuild next season with several elite players off to the NFL, but with the Transfer Portal King Lane Kiffin and Blake Baker's recruiting prowess, the Tigers should be back to one of the best teams in the SEC.