Panthers coaches Jake Peetz and DJ Mangas have both been hired to lead LSU offense, school reports | LSU

Carolina Panthers quarterback coach Jake Peetz has been hired as LSU’s next offensive coordinator, the university said on Wednesday.

LSU and Peetz came to an agreement quickly, just days after the NFL regular season ended on Sunday. Peetz spoke to LSU on Tuesday, with offensive assistant DJ Mangas, who also announced that LSU has been hired for the role of passing game coordinator.

Peetz, 37, is a Nebraska native, a former long-and-a-half corner snapper for the Cornhuskers, who spent seven seasons as an assistant in the NFL, four in the NCAA, most of which were spent as than quarterback coach.

Peetz has also spent time successfully crafting behind-the-scenes game plans at the college level, twice as an offensive analyst in Alabama in 2013 and 2018.

He began his NFL career as a scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2008, under then-head coach Jack Del Rio – a connection to LSU coach Ed Orgeron, whose close friend and former Northwestern State teammate Bobby Hebert played with Del Rio with the New Orleans Saints from 1985 to 1986.

“We are delighted with the opportunity that Coach O has given us to move our family to Baton Rouge and be part of the LSU football program,” Peetz said in a statement Wednesday. “Dealing with Coach O and (Sporting Director) Scott Woodward through this process has shown me the commitment to winning more National Championships and I’m grateful to be a part of it.

But it was Peetz and Mangas’ connections to former LSU passing coordinator Joe Brady that made them Orgeron’s main targets.

Orgeron told WNXX-FM’s “Off the Bench” on Tuesday that Derek Ponamsky, LSU’s special assistant in Orgeron, had been in contact with Brady during the research, in hopes of finding candidates who could replicate the schemes. that Brady and former offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger performed when the Tigers won the program’s fourth national championship.

“Joe, who can direct your attack?” Orgeron said Ponamsky asked Brady. “And he recommended two guys to me, and they’re here with me today.”

Mangas spent a season as an offensive analyst with LSU in 2019, joining the Tigers staff after serving two seasons as the offensive coordinator at William & Mary. He played wide catcher for the tribe from 2008-2011, where he was a teammate with Brady, who played from 2009-2012.

“Jake and DJ come highly recommended by one of the game’s most important and innovative offensive coaches in Joe Brady,” Orgeron said in a statement Wednesday.

Can Peetz and Mangas lead Brady’s attack? That will be the ultimate question on that side of the ball as the 2021 season approaches. It’s a crucial year for Orgeron, who will start the season under scrutiny after leading the Tigers to a disappointing 5-5 record in program title defense in 2020.

Most of the problems stemmed from a historically poor defense, a unit that gave up their highest per game average in points and yards in school history and ultimately led LSU to part ways with the former coordinator. defensive player Bo Pelini after a season.

Still, LSU’s attack was often inconsistent throughout the season. He stuttered in places, even before starting QB Myles Brennan suffered a season-ending abdominal injury four games into the season against Missouri.

The Tigers were 0-for-10 in the third downs against Missouri and were stuffed with a fourth scoring attempt that would almost certainly have sealed the win in the 45-41 loss.

The offensive firepower has diminished considerably following Brennan’s injury. LSU scored just 25.1 points per game the remainder of the season, which included a dismal four game streak against Auburn, Arkansas, Texas A&M and Alabama in which the Tigers are averaging 13 points per game.

LSU had a 33.8% drop third conversion rate in those four games, and the offense was often stagnant and ineffective with a total of 17 threes and outs.

LSU finished the season 102nd nationally with third drop in conversions (34.62%) and a 52.9% touchdown conversion rate in the red zone which ranked 104th nationally and represented a substantial drop compared to the conversion rate in 2019 (78.67%).

Third downs and red zones were the responsibility of former passing coordinator Scott Linehan, with whom LSU parted ways after a season. Linehan, 57, has to pay off the remainder of his two-year contract, $ 800,000 a year, a buyout of around $ 1 million.

Linehan held the same role as Brady, who won the Broyles award for best assistant coach in the country, and it is Brady’s influence on Peetz that Orgeron hopes to rejuvenate the Tigers’ offense this time around.

Ensminger, who voluntarily retired from field training, will always remain with the squad, making game plans as an off-field analyst.

“I believe in Joe and what he did,” Orgeron said. “I believe in Coach Ensminger. I thought these guys worked really well together two years ago. I thought this year we had lost a bit, but it was just because of Joe’s expertise, and I want to come back to it. offense. “

Many of LSU’s top offensive players left the team for the NFL Draft or entering the NCAA transfer portal, but Peetz still has a solid core of veterans and young players who erupted towards the end of the season. the season.

Brennan, entering his fifth year at LSU, is set to return to the starting quarterback position, although Orgeron has said he has yet to fully recover from his injury.

LSU’s top two rushers Ty Davis-Price and John Emery are both entering their third season on campus. The Tigers’ running offense dropped significantly from 2019 to 2020, dropping from 60th to 109th nationally with just 121.7 yards per game.

There are some promising young talent in the backfield with Davis-Price and Emery. True freshmen Josh Williams and Tre Bradford have both played notable games in LSU’s last two games, and the Tigers have signed two of the nation’s top 10 running backs to Armoni Goodwin and Corey Kiner in the class. recruitment 2021.

LSU enters the offseason without any of its starting receivers from last year: 2019 Biletnikoff Award winner Ja’Marr Chase withdrew before the start of the season; star wide receiver Terrace Marshall retired after Texas A&M game; starter Race McMath, who was injured in the Arkansas game, declared himself for the NFL draft; and star tight winger Arik Gilbert, a former five-star rookie, retired after the Alabama game and eventually entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Orgeron said on Tuesday he had kept in touch with Gilbert and his family, expressing that “we always want him to come back”. LSU still has four tight scholarship tips, plus three-star rookie Jalen Shead, but none really have Gilbert’s ability to make explosive plays.

LSU’s vast receiving body has shown it can still be powerful with its next round of playing.

Real rookie Kayshon Boutte is expected to lead a group that includes Jaray Jenkins, Koy Moore and Trey Palmer. The 6-foot, 185-pound boutte set a Southeastern Conference and school record with 308 receiving yards in the season finale against Ole Miss, and he recorded 27 catches for 527 yards and four touchdowns in the last three games.

Perhaps more importantly, Orgeron was able to hold back offensive linemen who might have left for the NFL Draft. So far, starting center Liam Shanahan, right guard Chasen Hines and left guard Ed Ingram have all said they will return to LSU in 2021. Left tackle Dare Rosenthal and right tackle Austin Deculus have yet to announced their intentions.

Mangas has expressed his belief in LSU’s offensive potential.

“I had the chance to be a part of the 2019 squad and see exactly what this attack and these players are capable of,” Mangas said. “It excites me to see the potential we have for the 2021 attack.”