LSU owes ousted defensive staff $5.4 million total buyout, including $3.7 for Matt House

Brian Kelly made a move everybody felt like he had to, hitting the reset button on the LSU defensive coaching staff. Multiple coaches are heading out of Baton Rouge, with the biggest name of them all being defensive coordinator Matt House. The Tigers were historically bad defensively during the 2023 season and Kelly knows the program needs to be better.

Also being let go were defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey, safeties coach Kerry Cooks, and cornerbacks coach Robert Steeples. And it’s going to cost LSU quite a bit to get all four guys out of their current contracts. According to Steve Berkowitz of the USA TODAY, just over $5.4 million will be paid out, with a huge chunk being House’s buyout.

“Per their contracts, these are the buyouts owed by LSU: –Matt House: Just over $3.7 million (deal was due to expire on 1/15/2026,) –Jimmy Lindsey: Nearly $745,000 –Kerry Cooks and Robert Steeples: Just over $510,000 each Total is roughly $5.465 million,” Berkowitz said via X.

LSU was able to hire House away from the NFL ahead of the 2022 season. At the time, he was working with the Kansas City Chiefs as the linebackers coach. House did bring defensive coordinator experience in the SEC to the program, previously being with Kentucky.

Things began to fall apart this season, being one of the worst units in the conference. Only Vanderbilt gave up more yards on average, with LSU coming in at 408.8 yards per game. Both passing and rushing yards allowed were bottom three in the SEC.

Scoring defense does not look too bad on paper, with opponents having an average of 28 points per game. However, in LSU’s three losses this season — Alabama, Florida State, and Ole Miss — the trio averaged 47.3 points. A horrific display not even the No. 1 offense in the country led by Jayden Daniels could overcome.

LSU now looks to retool on multiple different levels. The secondary is clearly a position where Kelly feels like the program should improve, getting rid of both coaches. A proud tradition of producing elite defensive backs is alive in Baton Rouge but has not been there under Kelly thus far.

One of the best defensive lines in the SEC was thought to reside in the Boot. While injuries certainly did not help, Lindsey got moved on from as well.

Some winter cleaning for LSU is going to wind up being pretty costly.