Reports: Kellen Moore, Saints to hire LSU DL coach Bo Davis

Brian Kelly and LSU were dealt a massive blow to its defensive staff on Thursday morning as reports from Luke Johnson of New Orleans Times-Picayune are that Davis will be becoming the new defensive line coach for the New Orleans Saints.

Davis spent just one season at LSU, his alma mater, after coming to Baton Rouge from Texas where he had incredible success and was viewed as one of the top defensive line coaches in the country. Kelly and LSU made him the highest paid defensive line coach, paying him over $1.25 million in 2024.

“His intensity. I think he cares a lot and if you know anything about coach Bo, he’s going to get it out of you one way or another,” former LSU defensive tackle Gio Paez said in 2024. “When you combine that with a group of individuals who are hungry and hear all this doubt, I think something special is going to come from that.”

Now, LSU is back in the same position it has been in year after year this decade — in need of a new defensive line coach. LSU’s defensive line coaching job has been a revolving door, and this will be the the fourth defensive line coach in four years for Brian Kelly at LSU, making it challenging to get any continuity on the field and in recruiting. Going back even further, LSU will have its eighth different defensive line coach in the last nine seasons.

New Saints head coach Kellen Moore has been intent on getting Louisiana coaches to round out his staff, hiring Louisiana native Terry joseph from Texas and Peter Sirmon, Cal’s defensive coordinator as well.

Davis was last in the NFL when he was the Detroit Lions’ defensive line coach from 2018-2020.

Questions at defensive tackle for LSU

LSU clearly has a huge hole to fill and will be looking to spend big on another big name at the position. Davis was heralded as one of the best in the country for a reason, but the defensive tackle spot was certainly a question entering the year. Wrote about the uncertainty earlier this month:

*From Defensive coaching staff story in early February

“After Bo Davis inherited a mess up front then lost his best defensive tackle before the year even started, there’s an expectation that the defensive tackle spot should be much more dynamic in 2025. Losing Gio Paez and Paris Shand is substantial, but he returns Guillory, Ahmad Breaux, and Dominick McKinley, who have a ton of promise. The run defense for LSU was not up to par last year, which the lack of talent up front certainly played a role in, but now Davis has another offseason to put the pieces together.

Question heading into 2025: Can Bo work his magic again?

Davis brought in just one transfer in Sydir Mitchell and four freshmen, so there’s not a ton of expectations for these newcomers to come in and compete for a starting job. Davis doesn’t need to find starters, though, he just needs one or two of them to become reliable behind the aforementioned names. At the same time, Breaux and McKinley need to take another step forward this offseason. Davis is known as a developer more than anything, making three-stars into NFL players and there will be plenty of pressure on that development this season.” – Matthew Brune

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