The fallout of Brian Kelly‘s firing as LSU head coach continues, as the school has also fired offensive coordinator Joe Sloan. Replacing Sloan will be Alex Atkins, who has plenty of experience as offensive line coach and offensive coordinator. This is just the latest shakeup at Baton Rouge, with Atkins now becoming the interim offensive coordinator.
Before Sloan was fired, Atkins was Brian Kelly’s tight ends coach, though he once played as an offensive guard during his college days at Tennessee Martin. Despite this, he has gone on to have extensive coaching experience after his playing days were behind him.
Kelly was fired after the team lost to Texas A&M, with the team going down 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the SEC. The now-former LSU coach still has plenty of time left in his contract, as he signed a 10-year, $100 million contract in 2022. The school is still trying to negotiate his buyout, which would be over $50 million, given that he still has plenty of time left in his contract.
Alex Atkins Has Plenty of Coaching Experience Before Joining LSU This Year
After his days playing in college, he did not go pro, instead going directly into coaching as a graduate assistant for his alma mater in 2007, with him getting promoted to be the tight ends coach in 2008. Since then, he has worked in the offensive line for various schools across several levels, including Marshall, Itawamba Community College, Tennessee- Chattanooga and Georgia Southern.
Alex Atkins’ big break came in 2016 when he was brought in as the assistant head coach and offensive line coach for Tulane, where he also served as the run game coordinator. He stayed there until 2018, before moving to Charlotte in 2019 as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.
In 2020, he became the offensive line coach for Florida State, before moving up to also become the Seminoles’ offensive coordinator. In 2025, Brian Kelly brought him into Baton Rouge to become LSU’s offensive line coach and run game coordinator. He actually gained notoriety with Florida State, as he helped lead the Seminoles to a 13-1 mark during his time as the offensive coordinator for the school.
With Sloan’s firing, he is currently the Tigers’ interim offensive coordinator. He will be working under Kelly’s assistant coach, Frank Wilson, who is now the team’s interim head coach. They would have a monstrous task as they try to turn things around for the Tigers.
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