re: What happened to House and this defense in one year?

House was lucky that he had veteran players from prior LSU regimes and from hitting home runs in the transfer portal that year, especially the secondary. Guys like Baskerville, Olujari, Gay, Ward and Roy and then Bernard Converse, Garner, Foucha, and Brooks in the transfer portal.

Like most coordinators, House’s scheme and play calls can work when he’s got good veteran talent that fit within the scheme. The issue that became clear this year is he couldn’t develop that talent himself, either through coaching or talent evaluation, and/or he couldn’t adjust his scheme and playcalling to account for the limitations of his roster. Good coordinators can do at least one of those things if not both