Blake Baker has no shortage of ties to Louisiana and already owns a previous career stop at LSU.
Brian Kelly and the Tigers are trying to persuade Baker for another run on the Bayou, multiple sources tell FootballScoop.
After formally dismissing four members of his LSU defensive staff this week, Kelly is targeting the Missouri defensive coordinator Baker for the Tigers's top defensive spot. 247 sports is also reporting that Baker has emerged as a leading target.
A former Tulane player whose wife is from the area and who also coached five years in the state at Louisiana Tech, Baker has climbed to the ranks of college football's top defensive coordinators in recent years with his work at both Miami as the Hurricanes's play-caller and the past two seasons at Missouri.
The 2023 Tigers, which just stymied normally high-powered Ohio State in a 14-3 win in the Cotton Bowl last weekend, ranked No. 25 nationally in scoring defense at just 20.85 points per game.
Midway through the 2023 season, Missouri hammered Tennessee, 36-7, in what has stood as the lowest-scoring game in the head coaching career of Vols skipper Josh Heupel; it's the only time a Heupel-led team has been held to single digits.
But there's no guarantee that Baker is automatically going to depart Eli Drinkwitz's rising Missouri program to join Kelly at LSU.
Missouri very much is working to retain Baker. Already last month, Baker and offensive coordinator Kirby Moore were rewarded with contract extensions and raises from Missouri leadership.
Baker crested the seven-figure mark in his deal at Missouri, with a pact per public records that was set to pay Baker $1.1 million and increase by at least $100,000 per year through 2025. The buyout on that deal, should Baker decide to leave, was not immediately available.
LSU has spent lavishly on assistant coaches for Kelly. The Tigers had given departed defensive coordinator Matt House one of college football's top deals for a defensive coordinator with a term worth approximately $2 million per year, and the school will owe House, pending mitigation, more than $3.5 million after his dismissal.
Additionally, LSU had just awarded Mike Denbrock a new deal as offensive coordinator in recent weeks, before Notre Dame pursued Denbrock.
The Tigers, per sources with direct knowledge, upped their offer to Denbrock to more than $2.1 million per year, but Notre Dame secured Denbrock's services with a four-year deal that sources told FootballScoop was valued at nearly $9 million.