CBS Sports Names LSU's Blake Baker A Candidate For Florida State Job

LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker has emerged as a potential candidate for Florida State's head coaching vacancy following the firing of Mike Norvell.

CBS Sports' Brandon Marcello recently [identified seven potential candidates](LINK for the Seminoles' opening, including Baker, who is currently the highest-paid assistant coach in college football.

Baker drew interest from Tulane and Memphis last December but elected to remain at LSU with Lane Kiffin.

Marcello pointed to Baker's track record of improving defenses, along with his recruiting ties throughout the Southeast, as reasons he could be an attractive option for Florida State.

Here's what CBS Sports had to say about Baker:

quote:

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Blake Baker, LSU defensive coordinator
The highest-paid assistant coach in the country turned down feelers from Tulane and Memphis last December to stay at LSU. Florida State might be the job that moves him.

Baker has fixed defenses everywhere he's been. At LSU, he took a defense that ranked 81st nationally in scoring before his arrival and held opponents to 18.3 points per game in 2025, the program's best mark since 2016. He was defensive coordinator at Louisiana Tech from 2015 to 2018, at Miami under Diaz in 2019 and 2020, and at Missouri under Drinkwitz in 2022 and 2023, when the Tigers went 11-2 and held Ohio State without a touchdown in the Cotton Bowl.

His two seasons at Miami allowed him to build recruiting relationships in South Florida, and he's been recruiting the Southeast over the last four years at Missouri and LSU.

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Here's the other candidates that Marcello mentions for the Florida State job:

Manny Diaz, Duke head coach
Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri head coach
Jake Dickert, Wake Forest head coach
Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State head coach
Jason Eck, New Mexico head coach
Blake Baker, LSU defensive coordinator
Glenn Schumann, Georgia defensive coordinator

Wild cards:
Rhett Lashlee, SMU head coach
Jimbo Fisher