LSU offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Mike Denbrock left the program in December for Notre Dame, leaving Tigers head coach Brian Kelly to decide who should fill the position.
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Kelly has made his decision, and he chose not one but two in-house coaches.
The expectation is that LSU is going to promote QB coach Joe Sloan and WR coach Cortez Hankton to co-offensive coordinators with Sloan as the primary offensive play-caller, sources tell @247sports.
With those two as interim co-OCs for LSU’s 35-31 bowl win over Wisconsin, the… pic.twitter.com/M1j7RAs91l
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 23, 2024
Matt Zenitz of 247Sports and CBS Sports notes that Joe Sloan and Cortez Hankton will be co-offensive coordinators, with Sloan as the primary play-caller.
Sloan was given that duty after he called the plays in their 35-31 ReliaQuest Bowl win over the Wisconsin Badgers.
Following that Jan. 1 bowl victory, Kelly had high praise for his new offensive coordinators, who filled in after Denbrock left for Notre Dame.
"Yeah, I think it's Joe and Cortez [Hankton] and really the whole staff," Kelly said. "Today was really about a cohesive group. Brad [Davis] had great suggestions on adjustments on the offensive line. Frank [Wilson] is doing a great job, you saw his rotation of backs in there. That all feeds into what you're doing offensively. It doesn't fall on one shoulder or shoulders, if you will."
In that game, Garrett Nussmeier drew his first start at quarterback. He completed 31 of 45 passes for 395 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
"The plays came down from the box. There was an input, and I thought Joe and Cortez managed that end of it really well," Kelly said. "And then we had great adjustments from our entire staff to be an efficient offense in this transition."
In 2024, the Tigers will play the following opponents:
- USC Trojans
- Nicholls Colonels
- South Carolina Gamecocks
- UCLA Bruins
- South Alabama Jaguars
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Arkansas Razorbacks
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Florida Gators
- Vanderbilt Commodores
- Oklahoma Sooners
We'll see if Sloan and Hankton can continue their performance with Nussmeier under center instead of Heisman-winning signal-caller Jayden Daniels, who is going into the NFL Draft.
Their season opens against the Trojans on Sept. 1 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. USC also will be without its star quarterback, Caleb Williams, who also is headed to the NFL Draft.
