With LSU 'prepared and ready,' Dave Aranda looks ahead to 'next step'

Defensive coordinator Dave Aranda during LSU spring football practice in Baton Rouge on Tuesday, March 14, 2017. (Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)LSU was "prepared and ready" for another school to pursue defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, who is "happy to be part of the next step in this process," he said in a school-issued release Thursday.

LSU sent the release one day after Aranda and the school agreed to a new four-year contract that will pay an average of $2.5 million annually, according to an LSU source.

The sides agreed to the deal after Texas A&M redoubled its efforts to hire Aranda away from LSU with two years remaining a contract that paid him $1.8 million in…