re: How big of a jump will LSU's defense really make in the upcoming year with new faces.

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Pretty broad strokes. Missouri was in the 100’s before Baker arrived and top 30 in his first year. Ever heard of the portal?

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I don't think we will really need the portal that much.

I posted earlier in this thread (and got downvoted a bunch)- House did poorly, but he got fricked this year by circumstances.
He had to coach half the special teams this year, in addition to the defense. That's more time and prep.
He lost his D line coach, and lost his lone experienced returning starter midway through the season. Things were so bad they had to call a guy retired for 20 years to come help coach.
He couldn't spend time with the linebackers (his specialty), choosing to play Speights because at least he had game experience somewhere- shows he didn't have time to coach up the other backers.
His secondary coach couldn't handle things, and House couldn't come help him.
And to make it worse, hands-on teaching isn't his thing, he's better with more finished guys (hence his time in the NFL), and overall strategy as a DC (when the players are prepared).
He probably came to build his resume on what he expected would be a typical LSU defense; 2-3 years and then get a mid-major HC gig. Instead, he was in over his head this season, and it showed.

The new staff is more hands-on, develops college guys instead of prepping pros. We go from no D line to 2 D line coaches. We have a proven secondary guy in Raymond, and Baker has coached safeties so there's overlap and backup. The Edge guy can work with linebackers, so there's also overlap there too. And as I understand it, the TE coach is now the special teams coach, so defensive staff can focus on... defense.
This alone will push us back to "average", without adding any new players, I bet. If we CAN get some plug-and-play guys, that would help even more.