Back to the Missouri Tigers Newsfeed

BenFred: Final thoughts on Missouri football’s bold but unsuccessful bid to keep Blake Baker

Finally, clarity.

Just not the kind the Missouri football team hoped to find.

Mizzou defensive coordinator Blake Baker is headed back to the Bayou after all.

Louisiana State coach Brian Kelly, the same coach who chose not to retain Baker, then a linebackers coach, when Kelly arrived at LSU from Notre Dame, successfully reunited with his top DC target after clearing out his defensive staff following a disappointing 2023 season. In doing so he just made Baker college football’s highest-paid assistant coach. We’re talking about a lot of oysters, folks.

Mizzou moved aggressively to make Baker one of the highest-paid coordinators in the nation before its Cotton Bowl win against Ohio State, then informed Baker there was both ability and interest in sweetening his brand new contract even beyond that once LSU came calling, but it didn’t matter in the end.