Alex Donno explains why he isn't worried about LSU poaching Miami Hurricanes defensive coordinator Lance Guidry.
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00:00 I am not worried for a couple of very important reasons about the Miami Hurricanes possibly losing
00:06 Lance Guidry. I think Guidry is a cane for at least another year. Okay. The first factor is
00:12 if you actually look at who LSU is pursuing right now, Guidry has not actually come up.
00:20 His number has not come up yet on their list. The LSU Tigers, my understanding are going hot and
00:26 heavy for, ironically enough, a former Miami defensive coordinator, Blake Baker. He appears
00:33 to be LSU's top target. Now, Blake Baker has done a lot better since his short time at Miami under
00:39 Manny Diaz. He's the Mizzou defensive coordinator, and Missouri just had a fantastic year. Baker also
00:47 had a recent stop at LSU. He was most recently their co-defensive coordinator. Ironically enough,
00:54 he wasn't retained by Brian Kelly when Kelly took that job. Maybe now Kelly is saying, "Whoops,
01:00 if I have an opportunity to do over, let's bring Baker back." Mizzou, they have a top 25 scoring
01:07 defense. They're near the top in most defensive categories, very improved with Blake Baker at the
01:12 helm. That seems to be the guy that LSU is zooming in on right now. Another reason why I could
01:18 understand why, for as much as I love Lance Guidry, why I could understand why, at least for their
01:24 first choice, why LSU would be prioritizing Baker over Guidry right now is Blake Baker has something
01:32 that Lance Guidry does not have, and that is SEC experience. You've got a guy who's doing good
01:38 things with the Missouri Tigers, and Brian Kelly already knows. Blake Baker knows this conference.
01:44 He knows about all the opponents. He's coordinated defenses that have had success in this conference.
01:50 I'm sure that's something very attractive for LSU. Obviously, if for whatever reason,
01:56 they don't land Baker or Baker were to decide to stay in Missouri, then maybe our panic level will
02:02 increase from a zero to a one or a two. Now also, with Lance Guidry, it's my understanding,
02:09 and this was reported, I believe, yesterday by Mike Ryan from the Dan Levitard Show,
02:14 he's already signed an extension with Miami, which means a couple of things. Number one,
02:19 you don't put pen to paper on an extension unless you're pretty happy where you are.
02:23 And then number two, that also makes the buyout more expensive. If anybody, a big program like
02:31 LSU, were to want to poach Guidry, number one, he's already shown some desire to stay because
02:36 you don't sign an extension if you're not happy where you are. And then number two, if you did
02:40 try to lure this guy away, the buyout would be very, very expensive. So at this time, I'm not
02:47 worried about Lance Guidry being poached. And I'd like him to stay for many years, but knowing at
02:55 least one more year with Guidry, because if he does really well again next year, guess what?
02:59 He's going to come up in a lot more coaching searches from other programs. But a second year
03:04 of continuity under Guidry, I think it's going to be really important. I like that he gets another
03:08 year with Kiko Maui-Noah, who was one of the outstanding linebackers in the country, who's
03:13 coming back for another year at Miami. Guidry does really good work with the defensive backs.
03:18 He's a safety coach by background. And Guidry, the one-on-one work and the hands-on work that
03:23 he does with Miami safeties is going to be really important heading into next year because you've
03:28 lost your two starting safeties. James Williams, Cam Kinchin's both headed to the NFL. So if you're
03:33 looking at guys like Savion Riley, who's just come in as a transfer from Vanderbilt, Jaden Harris,
03:39 Markeith Williams did pretty well in the bowl game. Caleb Spencer is a young safety going to
03:46 be looking for playing time. Zaquan Patterson coming in as a true freshman is going to be
03:51 fighting for playing time. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of work Lance Guidry can do
03:56 with that group.