On Friday, Les Miles announced the hiring of Brick Haley as the new Defensive Line Coach. Haley spent the last two years as DL coach for the Chicago Bears. Before his stint with the Bears, he spent three years as a defensive line coach at Mississippi State. Haley played linebacker from 1984-1988 at Alabama A&M.

Haley replaces Earl Lane, who was reassigned to an administrative role within the LSU football program.

The coaching overhaul on the defensive side appears to be over with three new coaches coming in. Personally, I think Miles did a great job in assembling these coaches, and I expect a vast improvement from the underachieving we saw this past season.

Having talked to a former Vol that played under Chavis back in the mid-90's, I can tell you that "The Chief" loves fast linebackers, so don't be surprised to see some of our safeties being converted to linebacker. Chavis has a history of beefing up "tweeners" and molding them into NFL-caliber linebackers.

In basketball news, the LSU men's team has their SEC opener tomorrow at Alabama. Tip-off time on Sunday is at 12:30pm CT at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa. The game will be televised by Raycom. The Tigers go into the game with a 12-2 record. Alabama is 10-4.

Finally, congrats to GeauxSaints06 and hpm070 for winning the 2008 Bowl Pick'em Contest. Both tied for first with a record of 28-6 (82.35%) and will share the first place prize.

Filed Under: LSU Sports