Guice gone, Ensminger is OC
Published 7:00 pm Thursday, January 11, 2018
<p class="p1">LSU made it official Wednesday in elevating tight ends coach Steve Ensminger to offensive coordinator on the same day he learned he’d be losing his best weapon.</p><p class="p1">Neither the Ensminger promotion nor running back Derrius Guice’s announcement that he is forgoing his senior year to enter the NFL draft was unexpected.</p><p class="p1">Guice, who’s projected as a first-round pick, became the fifth LSU underclassmen to leave early. He joins another projected first-rounder, pass rusher Arden Key, along with cornerbacks Kevin Toliver and Donte Jackson and offensive lineman Toby Weathersby.</p><p class="p1">Guice finished his LSU career with 3,074 yards and 29 touchdowns, including 1,251 yards and 11 TDs.</p><p class="p1">Ensminger replaces Matt Canada, a highly touted offensive mind who reached a settlement to part ways with the program after one season on the job.</p><p class="p1">Ensminger will get the full-time job that he did on an interim basis for eight games in the 2016 season after Ed Orgeron was named interim head coach following the firing of Les Miles and his offensive coordinator, Cam Cameron.</p><p class="p1">A former LSU quarterback (1976-79), the 59-year-old Ensminger has previously been offensive coordinator at Clemson, Georgia, Texas A&M and Louisiana Tech. He’s been on the LSU staff since 2010. He is considered an aggressive play-caller, and his pro-style attack is considered more conducive for Orgeron’s plans than the unorthodox style Canada preferred.</p><p class="p1">“In 2016, and in difficult circumstances, he put together one of the most explosive offenses LSU has ever seen,” Orgeron said in a statement. “We did that with Steve Ensminger at the helm and we’re going to do it again.”</p><p class="p1">Ensminger will be formally introduced today at a news conference on campus.</p><p class="p1">As interim offensive coordinator last year, Ensminger’s offenses flourished in the LSU’s six victories, but scored only 10 total points in the two losses (to Alabama and Florida) after he took over the role.</p><p class="p1">The 634 yards the Tigers rolled up against Missouri that year set a single-game school record.</p><p class="p1">But at the Citrus Bowl that season — when LSU had already announced plans to bring in Canada — Ensminger was adamant that he never had any aspirations for the full-time position and had only taken the interim position as a favor to Orgeron to try to help him get the head job full-time.</p><p class="p1">Other reports Wednesday said that Orgeron will be adding 73-year-old Jerry Sullivan in an undetermined full-time role to assist the Tigers’ passing game.</p><p class="p1">Sullivan, who coached at LSU under Bill Arnsparger and Mike Archer in the 1980s, has also spent 20 years with seven teams in the NFL, and is considered a leading authority on coaching receivers.</p><p class="p1">He was hired by LSU last summer as a consultant to work with coaches but not directly with players.</p><p class="p1">He was seen often at the team hotel during the Tigers’ recent trip to the Citrus Bowl that resulted in a 21-17 loss to Notre Dame.</p><p class="p1">With Guice’s departure, Ensminger and Co. will inherit an offense that has to replace its quarterback (Danny Etling), two leading rushers (Guice and Darrel Williams) and two leading receivers (DJ Chark and Russell Gage).</p>
