Advocate article: Why Aranda stayed (besides the money)

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Dave Aranda’s spurning of Texas A&M to remain at LSU wasn’t all about money.

It was about a player, too: Devin White.

“I love the players here. I immediately think of the linebacker corps and Devin White and improvements he made, the hunger to be a better player,” Aranda said Thursday on ESPN 104.5 FM’s morning show, Off The Bench. “He’s at the office on Sunday before I even get there. I know he’s going to have a great season.”

Aranda mentioned two other reasons for his decision nearly a month ago to stay in Baton Rouge: his relationship with coach Ed Orgeron and his family. The 41-year-old enters his third season as LSU’s defensive coordinator, and he is “content right now” in that role, he said during the 15-minute interview.

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"I’m content right now. The thing to me is, I want to win," he said. "I really feel being at LSU for two years and just seeing all of the fans involvement and all the work and what Coach (Tommy) Moffitt puts our guys through and the whole thing to get to Saturday night, we need to win."

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LSU ranked 64th nationally in allowing their opponents to score 83.3 percent of the time once moving inside the 20-yard line. The Tigers gave up touchdowns 52.7 percent of the time, 29th nationally and not good enough for the coach.

“We’d give up a big play or long drive and I thought there were too many walk-ins. I’m wondering should we take a timeout. I could sense our body language wasn’t what you’d want and guys are walking into the end zone,” Aranda said. “(In 2016), once they got into the red area, I remember Kendell Beckwith going around and saying ‘We’re not going to score.’ People would drive and not score. This year was almost the opposite.”

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Aranda called Ensminger “crafty.” Ensminger replaces Matt Canada in leading LSU’s offense, a unit that’s expected to morph into a pass-leaning West Coast-style attack with a group of talented receivers and sophomore quarterback Myles Brennan, the prohibitive favorite to win the starting job.

“I remember when I first got here,” Aranda said. “First game was Wisconsin. I’d be pulled into offensive staff meetings. I always singled out Steve. When he’d talk, it was always well thought out. I’d go ‘That’s right.’

“He’d see things and he’d give really good suggestions,” Aranda continued. “I knew who was in that meeting, but I didn’t know backgrounds. But hearing him talk and the way his mind worked, I singled him out.”

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“Being able to coach for Coach O, so much respect for him. The way he treats us as coaches and how he treats the players. I know the players love playing for him. They want to win for him, want to work hard for him,” Aranda said. “He talks really openly about where we’re at and what we’ve got to do to be better. Players gravitate to that. I feel good about the direction.”

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