BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
BATON ROUGE — Just nine years ago, Steve Ensminger was 50 years old, and his next job was going to be as the passing game coordinator at Smiths Station High School, 33 miles east of Auburn, Alabama, for the 2009 season.
Not exactly upwardly mobile. Not as offensive coordinator, mind you — passing game coordinator. It was his third high school job in 10 years. He was the head coach and athletic director at Central High outside his native Baton Rouge in 2000 and 2001. He was wide receivers coach at West Monroe High in 2002 before catching on at Auburn in 2003 as quarterbacks coach. A demotion followed, and he was tight ends coach from 2004-08. Then his next stop was Smiths Station.
MORE: Ensminger has North Louisiana roots
Then-LSU coach Les Miles rescued Ensminger from Smiths Station and hired him as tight ends coach in 2010. As Miles' national champion star faded in 2014, Ensminger was viewed as someone who might get fired.
When Ensminger turns 60 on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018, he will be calling plays for his LSU alma mater, not far from Smiths Station at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama, as the Tigers will be playing the Tigers in their Southeastern Conference opener. Calling plays, not as the passing game coordinator or the quarterbacks coach, mind you, but as LSU's offensive coordinator. He will have likely slept in his office a time or two that week.
"You never expect it," said Ensminger, who dreamed of being LSU's offensive coordinator as his career started as a receivers coach at Nicholls State in 1982 when he was 23 and with the offensive coordinator job at McNeese State from 1984-86 when he met a young graduate assistant from Galliano named Ed Orgeron.
"Hell, I'm 59 years old," he said at a press conference at LSU Thursday afternoon to introduce himself. "I've had a great career. I've enjoyed the hell out of it. My family's enjoyed it. Just imagine growing up as kids, and all you did was go to college football games. Hell, they've had a great career."
RELATED: Ensminger was expected to follow Canada
They know how to move, that's for sure. Ensminger is on job No. 11. The LSU job in 2010 was his fifth in 10 years. They know about getting fired. And they have experienced their dad get his dream job when they are old enough to enjoy it that much more. It didn't happen when he was hot in the early 1990s and through that decade as a quarterback coach at Georgia and the offensive coordinator at Texas A&M and Clemson.
"I've spent my whole career thinking about this opportunity, OK," he said. "Playing quarterback right over across the street, right there in Tiger Stadium for Charlie Mac, uh, I tell you, it's a ..."
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And he had to stop. He choked up.
He choked up again when he mentioned that he and his wife Amy were flipping channels in bed Wednesday night and stumbled upon "Miracle," a movie about the U.S. gold medal winning hockey team of 1980 that upset Russia - the Alabama of the time in amateur hockey.
He paused another 10 seconds before getting his play called.
"In the talk before the game, the coach (the late Herb Brooks played by Kurt Russell) said this: 'Great moments are born on great opportunity,'" Ensminger said with a crackling voice as his family sat in the audience in the LSU team room. "This is my opportunity. And I embrace it. I look forward to it. And I promise you, I will make this state proud."
It was one of several poignant moments from a true LSU man.
But the state is not quite proud of him yet. Throngs of LSU fans are cursing this hire. Ensminger is not a hot offensive coordinator. He's 59 and looks older. He looks like the Ancient Mariner. He was a high school coach at three places more recently than he was a full-time offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Clemson in 1998. Clemson went 3-8 and 1-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference that year under Tommy West. They all got fired. He was fired after the 1996 season at Texas A&M.
He was not being sought after to coach anywhere in recent years. Orgeron, his old friend from McNeese, made him the interim offensive coordinator at LSU in 2016, and he had some very impressive and some very unimpressive results.
But he is not he oldest coach on LSU's staff ... as of Thursday, that is. LSU did confirm the previously reported story that Jerry Sullivan, a 73-year-old NFL wide receiver coach and former LSU receiver coach in the 1980s, will be passing game coordinator for the Tigers in 2018.
Ensminger is clearly not a sexy hire. But in the end, this will work out, particularly if LSU locates a decent quarterback as good as Danny Etling. LSU fans will be pleasantly surprised with Ensminger. The last thing LSU's offensive players need is another hot coach coming in and changing everything. They know Ensminger, and he knows them.
"You know what? I'm the guy who knows these players," Ensminger said. "I'm the one who knows those players. I'm the one guy who knows our receivers, our quarterbacks, our offensive line. And you know what? I'm the one guy to lead 'em."
All right. He may not have wanted the job permanently in 2016, but he does now.
Ensminger ran a decent offense in 2016, and he will run another decent one in 2018. There will be problems, but that will be more because of a lack of quarterback maturity or talent, or both.
After Orgeron's mistaken firing of former offensive coordinator Matt Canada after just one but improved season, Orgeron was not going to be able to hire someone of equal hotness. Who would come? Ensminger knew Orgeron needed him. He knew his school needed him.
And he's ready.
Orgeron had to settle on Ensminger as LSU athletic director Joe Alleva settled on Orgeron.
"No amount of planning can replace dumb luck," says a plaque at my desk. And that may be LSU's ticket.
Ensminger has common sense. He knows offenses. He knows his personnel. And he knows what will work.
Plus, Ensminger was as vibrant and passionate as a 29-year-old on Thursday.
And if he can recruit better quarterbacks in and out of this state, he may end his career as LSU's offensive coordinator.
And if you don't like this hire, Ensminger has a message for you.
"I don't read the damn paper. I don't read Twitter," he said, though he does have a Twitter account. "I don't go on Facebook. And I tell my family, 'Stay off of it.' Because, you know what? All I can do is what I can do, and I can't let any outside influences say, 'Hey, well, you're not good enough.' Or, 'You can't do this.' BULL (expletive deleted)! Ok. I'll do it."
I'm sold. Steve Ensminger will be a good offensive coordinator at LSU. No BS.
Now, go sign a quarterback or two.
WILL CLAPP TO ENTER DRAFT: LSU junior center Will Clapp has decided to enter his name for the 2018 NFL Draft a year early.
"Now with my LSU degree in hand, I will get the opportunity to realize another dream at playing in the NFL," Clapp tweeted on Thursday.
Clapp, who red-shirted in 2014 as a true freshman, is a fourth-year junior. He is expected to a top 100 pick in the third round, according to NFL Draft expert Mike Detillier of WWL Radio in New Orleans.
Clapp is the sixth LSU player to enter the NFL Draft early. He joins tailback Derrius Guice and outside linebacker Arden Key - both expected to go in the first round - in addition to cornerbacks Donte Jackson and Kevin Toliver II and offensive tackle Toby Weathersby.
Jackson is expected to go in the late late third round or early fourth round, while Toliver and Weathersby are projected as late round picks.
Not exactly upwardly mobile. Not as offensive coordinator, mind you — passing game coordinator. It was his third high school job in 10 years. He was the head coach and athletic director at Central High outside his native Baton Rouge in 2000 and 2001. He was wide receivers coach at West Monroe High in 2002 before catching on at Auburn in 2003 as quarterbacks coach. A demotion followed, and he was tight ends coach from 2004-08. Then his next stop was Smiths Station.
MORE: Ensminger has North Louisiana roots
Then-LSU coach Les Miles rescued Ensminger from Smiths Station and hired him as tight ends coach in 2010. As Miles' national champion star faded in 2014, Ensminger was viewed as someone who might get fired.
When Ensminger turns 60 on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018, he will be calling plays for his LSU alma mater, not far from Smiths Station at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama, as the Tigers will be playing the Tigers in their Southeastern Conference opener. Calling plays, not as the passing game coordinator or the quarterbacks coach, mind you, but as LSU's offensive coordinator. He will have likely slept in his office a time or two that week.
"You never expect it," said Ensminger, who dreamed of being LSU's offensive coordinator as his career started as a receivers coach at Nicholls State in 1982 when he was 23 and with the offensive coordinator job at McNeese State from 1984-86 when he met a young graduate assistant from Galliano named Ed Orgeron.
"Hell, I'm 59 years old," he said at a press conference at LSU Thursday afternoon to introduce himself. "I've had a great career. I've enjoyed the hell out of it. My family's enjoyed it. Just imagine growing up as kids, and all you did was go to college football games. Hell, they've had a great career."
RELATED: Ensminger was expected to follow Canada
They know how to move, that's for sure. Ensminger is on job No. 11. The LSU job in 2010 was his fifth in 10 years. They know about getting fired. And they have experienced their dad get his dream job when they are old enough to enjoy it that much more. It didn't happen when he was hot in the early 1990s and through that decade as a quarterback coach at Georgia and the offensive coordinator at Texas A&M and Clemson.
"I've spent my whole career thinking about this opportunity, OK," he said. "Playing quarterback right over across the street, right there in Tiger Stadium for Charlie Mac, uh, I tell you, it's a ..."
Join now for as low as
And he had to stop. He choked up.
He choked up again when he mentioned that he and his wife Amy were flipping channels in bed Wednesday night and stumbled upon "Miracle," a movie about the U.S. gold medal winning hockey team of 1980 that upset Russia - the Alabama of the time in amateur hockey.
He paused another 10 seconds before getting his play called.
"In the talk before the game, the coach (the late Herb Brooks played by Kurt Russell) said this: 'Great moments are born on great opportunity,'" Ensminger said with a crackling voice as his family sat in the audience in the LSU team room. "This is my opportunity. And I embrace it. I look forward to it. And I promise you, I will make this state proud."
It was one of several poignant moments from a true LSU man.
But the state is not quite proud of him yet. Throngs of LSU fans are cursing this hire. Ensminger is not a hot offensive coordinator. He's 59 and looks older. He looks like the Ancient Mariner. He was a high school coach at three places more recently than he was a full-time offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Clemson in 1998. Clemson went 3-8 and 1-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference that year under Tommy West. They all got fired. He was fired after the 1996 season at Texas A&M.
He was not being sought after to coach anywhere in recent years. Orgeron, his old friend from McNeese, made him the interim offensive coordinator at LSU in 2016, and he had some very impressive and some very unimpressive results.
But he is not he oldest coach on LSU's staff ... as of Thursday, that is. LSU did confirm the previously reported story that Jerry Sullivan, a 73-year-old NFL wide receiver coach and former LSU receiver coach in the 1980s, will be passing game coordinator for the Tigers in 2018.
Ensminger is clearly not a sexy hire. But in the end, this will work out, particularly if LSU locates a decent quarterback as good as Danny Etling. LSU fans will be pleasantly surprised with Ensminger. The last thing LSU's offensive players need is another hot coach coming in and changing everything. They know Ensminger, and he knows them.
"You know what? I'm the guy who knows these players," Ensminger said. "I'm the one who knows those players. I'm the one guy who knows our receivers, our quarterbacks, our offensive line. And you know what? I'm the one guy to lead 'em."
All right. He may not have wanted the job permanently in 2016, but he does now.
Ensminger ran a decent offense in 2016, and he will run another decent one in 2018. There will be problems, but that will be more because of a lack of quarterback maturity or talent, or both.
After Orgeron's mistaken firing of former offensive coordinator Matt Canada after just one but improved season, Orgeron was not going to be able to hire someone of equal hotness. Who would come? Ensminger knew Orgeron needed him. He knew his school needed him.
And he's ready.
Orgeron had to settle on Ensminger as LSU athletic director Joe Alleva settled on Orgeron.
"No amount of planning can replace dumb luck," says a plaque at my desk. And that may be LSU's ticket.
Ensminger has common sense. He knows offenses. He knows his personnel. And he knows what will work.
Plus, Ensminger was as vibrant and passionate as a 29-year-old on Thursday.
And if he can recruit better quarterbacks in and out of this state, he may end his career as LSU's offensive coordinator.
And if you don't like this hire, Ensminger has a message for you.
"I don't read the damn paper. I don't read Twitter," he said, though he does have a Twitter account. "I don't go on Facebook. And I tell my family, 'Stay off of it.' Because, you know what? All I can do is what I can do, and I can't let any outside influences say, 'Hey, well, you're not good enough.' Or, 'You can't do this.' BULL (expletive deleted)! Ok. I'll do it."
I'm sold. Steve Ensminger will be a good offensive coordinator at LSU. No BS.
Now, go sign a quarterback or two.
WILL CLAPP TO ENTER DRAFT: LSU junior center Will Clapp has decided to enter his name for the 2018 NFL Draft a year early.
"Now with my LSU degree in hand, I will get the opportunity to realize another dream at playing in the NFL," Clapp tweeted on Thursday.
Clapp, who red-shirted in 2014 as a true freshman, is a fourth-year junior. He is expected to a top 100 pick in the third round, according to NFL Draft expert Mike Detillier of WWL Radio in New Orleans.
Clapp is the sixth LSU player to enter the NFL Draft early. He joins tailback Derrius Guice and outside linebacker Arden Key - both expected to go in the first round - in addition to cornerbacks Donte Jackson and Kevin Toliver II and offensive tackle Toby Weathersby.
Jackson is expected to go in the late late third round or early fourth round, while Toliver and Weathersby are projected as late round picks.
