Sources: SEC assistants among LSU defensive line coach targets
03/03/2025
By Matt Moscona and Hunt Palmer
A week after Bo Davis’s abrupt departure for the NFL, LSU’s search for a new defensive line coach is narrowing.
Virtual interviews began last week. Multiple sources have told LouisianaSports.net that Al Davis, Missouri’s defensive line coach, is receiving interest from LSU. Ole Miss defensive line coach Randall Joyner has also been contacted.
Davis has been coaching the defensive line at Missouri since 2022. He coached for two seasons under LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker at Missouri before Baker’s move to Baton Rouge. He also worked with Kevin Peoples, LSU’s edge rushers coach, and Jake Olson, LSU’s safeties coach, during that time.
Davis played collegiately at Arkansas and was a graduate assistant for the Razorbacks from 2014-2016. He joined the staff at Hutchinson Community College where he was co-defensive coordinator and associate head coach. From Hutchinson he moved on to Illinois where he coached defensive tackles in 2020.
Davis made $430,000 at Missouri in 2024.
Joyner has coached the Rebel defensive line for four seasons. He has helped develop standouts like Sam Williams, Jared Ivey, Cedric Johnson and JJ Pegues in Oxford. His base salary was $725,000 at Ole Miss last year.
Bo Davis was the highest-paid defensive line coach in the country last season at $1.25 million.
The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman reported on Saturday that Florida defensive line coach Gerald Chatman, who has served on LSU’s staff twice, declined the position to stay in Gainesville.
SOURCE: After a lot of consideration, Gerald Chatman who was a top target for the LSU D-line coaching vacancy, has opted to remain at Florida. In his first season at UF, the Gators made big jumps in sacks, TFLs and turnovers. LSU is looking to hire its EIGHTH D-line coach since…
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) March 1, 2025
Chatman’s Florida buyout became a sticking point in the conversations with LSU, sources said.
The other prospective candidates all have SEC ties. Minnesota Vikings assistant defensive line coach Patrick Hill has also been contacted. He spent the 2022 season as an analyst on the LSU staff. Southern Miss defensive line coach Brandon Deaderick played at Alabama and spent the past two seasons as an analyst on the Ole Miss staff. South Carolina defensive line coach Travian Robertson has also received interest.
LSU opens spring practice Saturday.