With news of Jake Olsen’s return to LSU football, the Tigers’ defensive staff is officially set for 2026. With the NFL coaching cycle wrapping up and most collegiate assistant positions filled, it’s hard to see much more movement.
That means LSU will officially return all but one assistant coach from 2025 on the defensive side of the ball. For a brief moment, Olsen was headed for the NFL, but ultimately decided to remain with Baker in Baton Rouge.
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Earlier this offseason, LSU defensive line coach Kyle Williams stepped down after one year with the program, the only depature from Baker’s defensive staff.
Coaching continuity can be key in this era of the sport. In a time where players have a handful of new faces every year, with transfers expected to make an immediate impact, having a coaching staff familiar with one another and the scheme can be a major plus.
That goes double for the safety coach. Safeties line up all over the field and have several responsibilities and keys on each play. The safeties coach needs to have a Phd in the defensive coordinator’s scheme. Olsen, who has worked under Baker since they were both in their first stint at LSU in 2021, fits that bill. LSU’s afeties made tremendous progress under Olsen in 2025, and that should continue in 2025, with the returns of TaMarcus Cooley and DaShawn Spears.
The continuity on the defensive side of the ball is also especially important in a year where the offense is undergoing so much change. New head coach Lane Kiffin cleaned house on the offensive side of the ball — coaching staff and the players. LSU keeping the defensive staff together ensured this didn’t become a full rebuild.
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Baker’s unit was one of the best in the country in 2025 and projects to be at that level again in 2026.
This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: LSU football: Jake Olsen return secures defensive coaching continuity
