GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Recently hired LSU defensive line coach Kyle Williams will save LSU $650,000 in football coaching salaries in the 2025 fiscal year from this July 1 through June 30, 2026, and $675,000 in the fiscal year through June 30, 2027, for a total shave of $1.32 million.
They did the math at the monthly LSU Board of Supervisors meeting Friday at the University Administration Building on Lakeshore Drive as the board approved Williams’ March hiring by head coach Brian Kelly and his salary and three-year contract.
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“That’s very good,” board member James Williams said to Lori Williams, who is one of four deputy athletic directors under athletic director Scott Woodward.
Lori Williams had explained the $1.32 million of salary saved at the podium to James Williams after coming to the meeting with Woodward.
“The defensive line (salary) is coming down,” she said. “The previous defensive line coach (Bo Davis) was going to make $1.45 million in his third year in 2026 and $1.35 million this year.”
Davis, who signed a three-year contract last year, left LSU after one season to return to the NFL with the New Orleans Saints. Williams will make $700,000 this year, $775,000 in 2026 and $850,000 in 2027 in his three-year deal.
“When you say the defensive line is ‘coming down,’ you’re only referring to the compensation,” board member Remy Starns cracked. (Not the play on the field.)
“Yes,” Williams said.
The defensive line improved on the field in 2025 under Davis, whom LSU hired away from Texas for $4.05 million over three seasons a year ago. A former LSU defensive lineman, Davis, 54, previously coached in the NFL with Detroit, Jacksonville and Miami (under Nick Saban) and had college stops at Alabama (also under Saban) and at Texas-San Antonio under then-head coach Frank Wilson, who is LSU’s running backs coach.
Williams, 41, is in his first college coaching job after five seasons as defensive coordinator at his alma mater Ruston High from 2020-24. A member of LSU’s 2003 national champion team and an All-American, Williams played 13 seasons with Buffalo and was a six-time Pro Bowl selection at defensive tackle.
Williams will also make less than non-coach Austin Thomas, who is one of LSU’s six senior associate athletic directors under Woodward. Thomas is in charge of LSU football’s all-important roster management. Managing ever-changing rosters has become increasingly important in college athletics since 2021 when Name, Image & Likeness money began flowing to student-athletes at the same time the NCAA Transfer Portal was revamped to allow for zero waiting periods between switching schools.
The Board approved a one-year extension on Thomas’ contract through 2027 and a $150,000 raise. He will make $800,000 this fiscal year, $850,000 next year and $900,000 in the third year of his deal. Thomas is a key arm in football recruiting.
“Thomas oversees and manages all aspects of the football program, working closely with head coach Brian Kelly to ensure the program has the structure and resources to thrive in the ever-evolving landscape of college athletics,” LSU’s football media guide states.
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Thomas, 40, is on his third stint with LSU football after returning in 2024 from a similar position at Ole Miss. He was LSU’s “general manager” for personnel in 2021 and ’22 and worked with personnel from 2013-18 with the Tigers. A graduate of Lipscomb and Tennessee, he previously worked in football personnel at USC, Texas A&M, Baylor and Tennessee.
In addition, the Board approved a one-year extension to top men’s basketball assistant coach David Patrick through the 2027-28 season. Patrick will make $600,000 this year with $25,000 increases through the end of his deal.
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