LSU football coach Brian Kelly announced Thursday that he’s completed his defensive coaching staff with three more hirings.
Kelly, who released that defensive coordinator Blake Baker of Missouri and defensive line coach Bo Davis of Texas had joined his staff, said that he’s hired defensive backs coach Corey Raymond of Florida along with defensive ends coach Kevin Peoples and defensive analyst/safeties coach Jake Olson, both of Missouri.
All of Kelly’s new hires must be approved by the LSU Board of Supervisors.
Raymond is a former LSU defensive back that spent a total of 13 years coaching the Tigers and helped bolster the defense’s moniker of ‘DBU’ after developing seven first team All-Americans and having four first round NFL Draft picks. The New Iberia native spent the past two seasons coaching at the University of Florida.
Olsen’s expected to coach safeties and Raymond will handle cornerbacks.
“Corey’s passion for LSU and the desire for our program to have the best defensive back unit in the country really stood out,” Kelly said in a university release. “Corey’s tremendous knowledge and experience, along with his recruiting success, make him a great addition to a strong defensive staff.”
Peoples and Olsen both assisted Baker with a Missouri defense that helped the Tigers (11-2) with their most wins in nearly a decade. They defeated Ohio State, 14-3, in the Cotton Bowl and became the first defensive unit since 2016 to hold the Buckeyes without a touchdown.
“We are thrilled to welcome Jake back to Baton Rouge,” Kelly said. “He’s a young and hungry coach with an elite defensive mind that will bring great continuity to our defensive staff. Jake has spent the last three years working with Coach Baker and has extensive experience in the state of Louisiana. I have no doubt Jake will bring a great sense of pride and understanding to what it means to work for LSU.”
Olsen has previous experience coaching in Louisiana. He spent the 2021 season serving as a defensive analyst at LSU where Baker was the linebackers coach under then head coach Ed Orgeron.
Olsen also spent time coaching at Nicholls (2014 outside linebackers), UL-Monroe (2016 graduate assistant) and Northwestern State (’17-’20 linebackers, recruiting coordinator, special teams coordinator). The native of North Dakota’s a four-year letterman at Valley City State where he played defensive end/outside linebackers and served as team captain in ’12.
Olsen followed Baker to Missouri where they spent the past two years under head coach Eli Drinkwitz reshaping a defense into one of the more comparable units in the Southeastern Conference. In ’23, the Tigers were fourth in scoring defense (20.8), fifth in both rushing defense (122.8) and total defense (336.11) and were fourth nationally in forced fumbles (17).
Kelly, who still hasn’t announced his offensive coordinator/tight ends coach, fired defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Matt House, defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey, safeties coach Kerry Cooks and cornerbacks coach Robert Steeples after the ’23 season.
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