GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
So far, LSU coach Brian Kelly has hired only one front line assistant coach in former Florida State offensive coordinator Alex Atkins. But he fills a very important need in Kelly’s mind, and that’s not recruiting or coaching tight ends.
Kelly wants a better run game, which he thought he would have last season, but did not. The Tigers finished dead last in the Southeastern Conference in rushing yards per game and 107th of 133 nationally with 116.4 yards a game.
Atkins has a title at LSU that Kelly has not put on an assistant since he took over before the 2022 season – running game coordinator. Atkins will also coach tight ends.
“Excited about Alex,” Kelly said Wednesday. “He brings a great deal of experience as a coordinator. More important is his depth and background in the run game as an offensive line coach.”
Atkins, 40, was Florida State’s offensive line coach from 2020-24 with the offensive coordinator title from 2022-24, but he did not call plays. He was fired along with two other assistants during the ’24 season after a 1-9 start in a 2-10 season that followed coach Mike Norvell’s breakthrough 13-1 season of 2023. The Seminoles finished 128th in rushing with 89.9 yards a game in 2024. In 2023, Atkins’ “background” in the run game included a No. 76 finish in the nation with 150.2 yards a game.
In the 2022 season, though, the Seminoles finished 13th in the nation in rushing with 214.1 yards a game.
Atkins will work under LSU offensive line coach Brad Davis, who is a holdover from former coach Ed Orgeron’s staff. Atkins also does not have a lot of experience at major programs other than Florida State and Tulane, where he was offensive line coach from 2016-18. Other than FSU and Tulane, his offensive line coaching stops include UNC-Charlotte, Chattanooga, Georgia Southern and Itawamba, a community college in Fulton, Mississippi.
But Kelly sounded excited. And Atkins was part of two FSU coaching staffs that beat Kelly and LSU to open the season in 2022 and ’23.
“He adds another perspective in that room with Brad,” Kelly said. “He will not be stepping on Brad’s toes. Brad’s done an incredible job. This is really having somebody that will coach the tight ends and have a specific focus to our run game and how it varies and matches to what I’m looking for in our overall offensive structure.”
Davis’ running attack did finish No. 10 in the nation in 2023 with 204.8 yards a game.
LSU returns tailback Caden Durham, who led the Tigers in 2024 in rushing as a freshman with 753 yards on 140 carries for a 5.4-yard average and scored six touchdowns.
“So having somebody that is dedicated to that who has his eye on it every day, I felt that was a great need,” Kelly said. “And to get somebody with his kind of experience in building run games in particular. The need, the timing make it a great fit.”
NEW LSU FOOTBALL ASSISTANT ALEX ATKINS HAS NCAA BAGGAGE
Atkins is also known for his recruiting prowess, though he did receive a two-year show cause penalty from the NCAA last year for NIL-related recruiting violations at Florida State as he was trying to entice Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims into transferring to FSU in 2022. The NCAA said Atkins got Mims together with a Florida State booster, who allegedly offered Mims $15,000 a month if he would come to FSU.
Mims stayed at Georgia and became the 18th pick of the first round by Cincinnati in the 2024 NFL Draft. The NCAA ruled that Atkins also violated ethical conduct standards by lying about his involvement in the recruitment of Mims to NCAA officials and was guilty of two Level II infractions with Level I being the most serious. Level II violations “provide a competitive advantage that is more than minimal and less than substantial,” according to the NCAA handbook.
Atkins served a three-game suspension to start the 2024 season at FSU. According to NCAA show cause rules, LSU has or will have to explain its decision to hire Atkins to the NCAA.
Kelly has nine front line assistants at the moment with a limit of 10. He may hire a special teams coordinator to go with new special teams analyst Aman Anand, the former Grambling special teams coordinator whom Kelly hired recently.
“We’ve hired Aman Anand to be involved in our special teams,” Kelly said. “Really excited about him. We’ll add another special teams coach to the mix there to support those units.”
LSU STAFF HAS LITTLE TURNOVER FROM 2024
Nine of Kelly’s 10 front line assistants from 2024 are returning for 2025, unless something changes soon. Those are offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan, who was incorrectly predicted by many to be fired from LSU, defensive coordinator Blake Baker, wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton, offensive line coach Brad Davis, defensive line coach Bo Davis, edge rushers coach Kevin Peoples, secondary coach Corey Raymond and safeties coach Jake Olsen. All the defensive coaches were new in 2024.
The only assistant coach not returning is special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Slade Nagle, who became the offensive coordinator at Houston after the 2024 season.
Kelly has added analysts in addition to Anand. Among those are former Oklahoma State quarterbacks coach Tim Rattay, who is a former Louisiana Tech quarterback, and former Oregon analyst Antonio Parks on offense. On defense, Kelly has added former East Carolina general manager Noah Joseph as an analyst. Joseph was an analyst at Missouri under Baker before Baker came to LSU after the 2023 season. LSU is also adding former Miami defensive coordinator Lance Guidry as an analyst on defense.
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