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The LSU Tigers revolutionized the college football passing game last fall, and it helped lead them to a Heisman Trophy winner, the national championship and one of the most prolific offenses in history. The transformation didn't take several years. It took less than 12 months.
Gone from last year's team are Heisman quarterback Joe Burrow, offensive play-calling guru Joe Brady, two receivers and a star running back.
LSU head coach Ed Orgeron on Monday hired Scott Linehan to replace Brady as the team's passing game coordinator. Linehan is a former NFL head coach for one team and offensive coordinator for three other NFL teams. The hire doesn't mean Orgeron is trying to keep up with the Joneses, it means he's trying to keep up with the LSU Tigers.
Orgeron wanted to hire someone as passing game coordinator who had familiarity with last year's Tiger offense, but could also add some new twists, perhaps.
"We're looking for different ideas," Orgeron said in the Baton Rouge Advocate. "We're looking for things that can add to our already great offense."
The news was first reported Monday by Bruce Feldman of The Athletic.
Linehan last coached in college during the 2001 season when he was the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Louisville. He then moved on to the pros, where he was the OC and receivers coach for the Minnesota Vikings for three seasons.
In 2005, Linehan became the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins under head coach Nick Saban—who is the head coach of LSU's chief rival, Alabama.
Linehan became the head coach of the Sr. Louis Rams from 2006-08, and then he became the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions for five seasons. Most recently, he was the passing game coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys in 2014, and then the Cowboys offensive coordinator from 2015-18.
Last fall, Burrow broke all kinds of passing records in college football, the SEC and at LSU, including:
- 60 passing touchdowns (NCAA record)
- 76.2% completions (2nd in NCAA for single season)
- 5,671 passing yards (SEC & LSU record, 3rd in NCAA)
- 65 total TDs responsible for (NCAA record)
- 402 completions (LSU record)
- 13 300-yard passing games (LSU record)
- 6 TD passes in CFP semifinal (Playoff record)
- 93.8% of Heisman votes (Most in voting history)
Brady left LSU after one season to become the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers of the NFL.
Next up?
Myles Brennan has waited patiently in three years at LSU. He was regarded as one of the nation's top quarterback prospects coming out of high school not far down the road in Long Beach, Mississippi. Brennan played sparingly in the 2017 season, and then received a redshirt in 2018, which was Burrow's junior season as a transfer. Brennan, who is a pro-style pocket passer, played backup in 2019 to Burrow, and entered many games because of lopsided scores.
The LSU 2020 schedule will allow the Tigers to once again get tested early. After opening Sept. 5 at home against UT-San Antonio, the Texas Longhorns visit Baton Rouge on Sept. 12. The LSU-Texas game in 2019 was when Burrow first became a bonafide Heisman prospect, and when the nation took notice of LSU's offense.
The Tigers then play Rice in Houston, and have home games against Ole Miss and Nicholls State before the first road test of the season—Oct. 10 at Florida.
In their last five games, LSU will get Mike Leach's Mississippi State, Nick Saban's Alabama and Will Muschamp's South Carolina at home before finishing with road games at Auburn and Texas A&M.
About the writer
Scott McDonald is a Newsweek deputy night editor based in Cape Coral, Florida. His focus is assigning and writing stories ... Read more