Blake Baker Interviewed With LSU

[Fluffhead]

You spelled "trying to find a spot for your DC to avoid paying out half a million dollars+ in a year where you drew 6000 fans per game and just brought on two other highly paid assistants" wrong.

But I see you.

Let me throw one caveat to this. As you know, the market was crazy last year. One overlooked part of the Cares Act is that individuals who intermixed deductions can deduct up to 100% of their AGI for charitable contributions. I’d bet two shares of GME they could have found a big money booster to help offset any buyout to Baker if Manny pushed for and in the process lower their tax bill dollar for dollar.

 

[ThomasM]

This year should bring resolution one way or the other. Not at all sold on Manny or saying he is our savior but he has earned more time and at least some level of support. I don't care if there is a backstory to how he got Lashlee as his third choice, coulda had so and so, Enos... yada yada. Whatever, there is always a backstory. Bottom line is the end result and are you moving the program forward. Thats kind of hard to debate if you just plug in the facts and take out opinion.

Record:
1st year record 6-7
2nd year record 8-3 (improved)

Staff:
1st year - 3rd year
HC Diaz - Diaz (same)
OC Enos - Lashlee (improved)
OL Barry - Justice (improved)
RB Hickson - Hickson (same)
WR Stubblefield - Likens (improved)
TE Field - Field (same)

DC Baker - Diaz (improved)
DL Strout - Simpson (improved)
LB Baker plus playcall duties - Baker (Still bad but hopefully better with more focus on LB)
CB Rumph - DVD/TRob (improved)
S Banda - TRob (improved)

Special Teams
Patke - Patke (same)

Recruiting (transfers not included in ranking)
2019 - 27
2020 - 16 (improved)
2021 - 13 (improved)

Other than Harley having a good stretch of games, did our WRs really impress you more this year than last? I thought they looked worse, quite honestly. That's not saying Likens is worse than Stubbyfield, but I sure wasn't impressed with the WRs this year to say he's some massive upgrade.

 

[Cryptical Envelopment]

Let me throw one caveat to this. As you know, the market was crazy last year. One overlooked part of the Cares Act is that individuals who intermixed deductions can deduct up to 100% of their AGI for charitable contributions. I’d bet two shares of GME they could have found a big money booster to help offset any buyout to Baker if Manny pushed for and in the process lower their tax bill dollar for dollar.

Maybe, but that's assuming the donation is truly incremental. You have to assume that if there is a $550k or so donation out there that you have the ability to grab it regardless and that you aren't robbing Peter to pay Paul.

 

[hoops156]

Other than Harley having a good stretch of games, did our WRs really impress you more this year than last? I thought they looked worse, quite honestly. That's not saying Likens is worse than Stubbyfield, but I sure wasn't impressed with the WRs this year to say he's some massive upgrade.

to be fair, hard to judge any of the new Offensive guys with what this year was and no spring (esp for the young guys who absolutely needed it)

 

[Arehel]

Umiami cant buy him out, so we're pushing him out then we get his money to use on the next hire.
Been paying out lots of coaches in the recent past! It adds up.

 

[Eric The Midget]

Is this guy leaving or not?

 

[Notsince1985]

I don't know why he's a natural fit for LSU, but if LSU thinks he is, I won't argue

 

[rok]

I don't know why he's a natural fit for LSU, but if LSU thinks he is, I won't argue

Guessing it's the combo of hailing from Houston and attending school in the 504. Whatever works!

 

[Mandingo]

Dave Aranda was making that scratch because he was in such high demand. He kept getting big raises. That’s how it’s supposed to work. Fake Faker wouldn’t be making anywhere near that at LSU.

You mention Aranda parlaying the LSU DC gig into a HC gig. It took him about 5 or 6 years to do that. Remember how long it took our last successful DC to parlay it into a better HC gig? About half the time.

DCs at Miami have become HCs in the NFL. Same for OCs. LSU doesn’t have better parlay potential when Miami is beastly and on top of its game. And Baker interviewed for a Step Down position. It looks like Manny Diaz is paying him until he finds a job.

 

[Page305]

It's not happening is it?? Smh

 

[Rellyrell]

5 of the coaches on LSU’s staff are Louisiana natives & while Baker is from Houston, he apparently is a well liked coach in Louisiana from his time as a player at Tulane & as a coach at LA Tech.

He doesn’t belong in Miami, he’s not a good fit here, doesn’t have enough fire & doesn’t command the respect of the Defense, he’s pretty much seen as just Manny’s high paid sidekick, so the writing is on the wall...

Hopefully Eddy O does us this solid & takes him off our hands, but if LSU doesn’t want to cut the check for him, the LB’s coach job just opened up at North Texas & he’d fit perfect on that staff under DC Phil Bennett, SMU just lost their DC/LB’s coach Kevin Kane to Illinois, University of Houston is also in need of a LB’s coach right now & Tennessee will also be looking for a LB’s coach pretty soon too whenever the new HC gets named.

Bake leaving would give Miami an opportunity to add another good coach on staff who could be a dynamic recruiter which we will need for the 22 class at LB, but we could also bring in a legit DC if Manny is open to it as opposed to deciding to call plays himself this year.

T-Will is the obvious choice with the connection to T-Rob, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be TWill, there’s still several good choices that wouldn’t cost Miami more than 450-500K per to bring them in, both Tyrone Nix & Joseph Gillespie are terrific DC/LB’s coaches who did a great job this year at UTSA & Tulsa & neither one is making more than 300K a year.

But if Bake did leave of course T-Will would be the most likely choice, but the point is, there’s lots of really good options to replace Baker, it would be a real shame if Diaz lets this opportunity to upgrade the LB & potentially the DC spot pass us by in these coming days by trying to save face & protect Baker. Let his *** go & he’s free to go whenever he wants, people are acting like 1 year left on a contract is gonna put Miami in the hole lol, despite the constant effort of always trying to make Miami seem like we’re the little sisters of the poor, we can afford to move on from Baker with a year left on his deal, we moved on from Enox, Stubblefck & Botch Berry when they had multiple years left on their deals & yes I’m aware of Covid, but again, we’re not flat broke or in debt as a program, we played a full 11 game season & had fans at every home game, plus still have multiple Billionaires on the BOT, we’re okay enough financially to replace a LB coach lol.

? is, which of those teams r going up The Ghost (in my IMX voice) to pay $700k for Baker? Also, is Baker going to be willing to lose some of that bread? I know cost of living is cheaper in those aforementioned areas, but will that difference be enough to off set losing, let’s say, $200-300k?

 

[Mr. Dynasty1]

It's not happening is it?? Smh

Prob not

 

[Rellyrell]

DCs at Miami have become HCs in the NFL. Same for OCs. LSU doesn’t have better parlay potential when Miami is beastly and on top of its game. And Baker interviewed for a Step Down position. It looks like Manny Diaz is paying him until he finds a job.

Who?

 

[Arehel]

Who?

Guy is living in the 80s and 90s again.

 

[CaneDog66]

Here's the deal LSU cut with Daronte Jones, their new DC:

**** I’d take an $800/month car allowance

 

[Handsome Squidbum]

but will that difference be enough to off set losing, let’s say, $200-300k?

If he is getting paid 700k at Miami to be a demoted LB coach, then goes to LSU for 300k, my guess is that he'd get a negotiated settlement for somewhere in between. Assuming his contract includes offset language, if he tries to argue he's owed the full difference (400k), the school could say he's getting the fair market value for a LB coach and they don't owe him the difference. Since he wasn't fired, he can choose to stay at Miami which would be paying him far more than FMV for a LB coach. He's not being forced to leave so taking a lower paying job elsewhere is a voluntary decision. It's obviously beneficial for him to leave though (not a good look from a career or recruiting perspective to get demoted and stay on staff), so if he chooses to take a lower paying position coach gig at another school, Miami will probably do him a solid and pay him half of what he's owed rather than going to court with yet another coach who claims he is getting stiffed.

It's a win-win; instead of costing the school 700k for firing him outright, it costs us 200k; instead of him being unemployed he gets to go back to Louisiana and rehab his career while Miami foots a portion of the bill.

 

[Broward007]

Need Baker gone yesterday.

 

[calinative umstudent]

Please lord let them take Baker lol.

 

[Calvin]

I like Norland as well but he struggled at UCF lately. I don't know if it was due to players or otherwise but I think that ship sailed.

It's Ucf, they not gone stay top notch, but as long as coach shannon is their, his defensive guys will keep getting drafted and they'll consistently put a solid defense on the field But also just think about it this way, the team that has consistently been mentioned as the Greatest college football team of all time, who was the d-co, and in Ucf's history, the greatest team they fielded, who was the d-co.

Even in his playing days, onion was part of some of the best defenses to ever lace em up at UM, particularly that 87 team, who in my opinion was better than the 2001 team minus the all of a sudden, color blindness, but besides the trophy, that 87 squad was BONAFIDE!

 

[Mandingo]

Who?

Schiano and Chud just to name two. Go look at JJ’s staff and you’ll see some coaches who eventually became NFL HCs. If someone wants to argue that there is a better coaching stepping stone than Miami - I’m all ears. When we’re on our game - we can’t be fugged with.