The new era is truly upon us, as Ed Orgeron has officially begun to remake his staff. Today, LSU announced that Dameyune Craig has been relieved of his duties and Jabbar Juluke was re-assigned to a role within the athletic department.
This isn’t altogether shocking if you’ve been following along in the offseason. Dameyune Craig has been eyeballing other opportunities, suggesting he was well aware of his fate. We heard back in early January that Orgeron wasn’t going to ask him to leave, but wouldn’t stop him if he tried. Alas, he took a stronger position.
As for Juluke, he’s being re-assigned to an administrative role, where his connections to New Orleans can still be utilized. This is probably a win-win for LSU as you get to keep the value Juluke adds but move him away from where he struggled.
Frankly, this is about recruiting. Devonta Smith, Cam Akers, Travis Etienne, Willie Gay, and Nico Collins were some of the major targets that signed elsewhere and were assigned to Craig and Juluke. I speculated weeks ago that Juluke’s job may be in jeopardy if he didn’t win out on Cam Akers, and it appears that was the case.
LSU’s signing class finished with 23 spots and they had room to take on guys like Smith, Akers and Gay, which would have catapulted them up closer to the Alabama/Ohio State tier. Despite finishing strong, O clearly feels it’s simply not enough.
The other piece here is that Orgeron wants to make his own staff. Juluke and Craig are recent Miles hires, and now, along with Peveto, have all been let go. It will be interesting to see what direction Orgeron goes with the remaining hires. I penned this piece back in November, discussing coaches with connections to O.
Could it be a name on this list? Or could he look for more expressly SE connections.
At any rate, this marks a definitive change from the Les Miles style of letting coaches see themselves out. Orgeron acts in a more cut throat manner, which will be met with more aggressive criticism, but perhaps better results?