LSU set to add former FSU OC Alex Atkins to offensive staff
Brian Kelly has made another significant addition to LSU’s staff on Wednesday morning, according to reports by On3, as Alex Atkins is set to join the staff for the 2025 season. Atkins will be the new tight ends coach and run game coordinator for LSU this year, per The Advocate.
Atkins was the offensive coordinator at Florida State from 2022 through 2024 after being on the Seminoles staff in 2020 and 2021 as the offensive line coach. He was also the offensive coordinator at Charlotte in 2019 and the offensive line coach at Tulane for three years from 2016 through 2018.
Atkins also played a role in five-star Solomon Thomas flipping from Florida State to LSU in the 2025 class. After Atkins was fired, Thomas and him remained close and he took his advice as he made his college decision.
“I went to a practice, and I asked my ex-coach at Florida State about the offensive line coach at LSU, and he was like, ‘He’s a great dude on and off the field,” Thomas said. “‘He will take care of you beyond the football aspect of it,’ and that’s always been a guy that I wanted to play for.”
The relationship between Atkins and Thomas speaks to what Atkins brings to LSU’s staff in 2025 both on and off the field. with a significant turnover on the offensive line this year, there’s ample excitement in the addition of Atkins and what he can potentially do to help this unit progress as the young players develop.
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“Atkins became almost like a father figure to me,” Thomas continued in December. “A father figure, a friend, somebody that I could talk the Bible about, and there was nobody really to replace him or somebody I could see replacing him at Florida State because I was there for him. And any other interview that I’ve ever done, I’ve always talked about how Atkins was the reason I wanted to be at Florida State, and he was the reason I started to like Florida State in the first place.”
Atkins was revered by his players during his time at Florida State, with multiple players talking about his impact on them and the team. He was the offensive coordinator during the 2023 season where Florida State went undefeated in the regular season and won the ACC Championship. His offensive line paired with Jordan Travis and exciting weapons proved to be one of the top offenses in the country and now he comes to Baton Rouge ready to further help this offense reach its potential.
“It was difficult for the team. I’ll just say it was something that hurt everybody,” 2024 starter Maurice Smith said. “Coach Atkins was dear to my heart. A great O-line coach; a real person, he was a father figure [to me].”
