LSU's defensive line coach to step away from football program for health reasons

LSU defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey will be away from the team for an unspecified period of time “as he deals with a personal health matter,” head coach Brian Kelly announced Wednesday night, causing the Tigers to shuffle their coaching staff on the eve of preseason practice. Lindsey was taken from the football operations building Tuesday in an ambulance, as first reported by WBRZ. The severity and nature of the issue are unknown.

Kelly indicated in a statement Lindsey would rejoin the staff at some point, saying “we look forward to his return to the program. ” In Lindsey’s absence, LSU replaced him with John Jancek. Bob Diaco, who joined the team earlier this year as a senior defensive analyst, will become an on-field coach overseeing outside linebackers and special teams.

“Our prayers are with coach Lindsey and his family, and we ask that their privacy be respected,” Kelly said. “We look forward to his return to the program. ” Lindsey was hired from South Carolina after spring practice.

He had spent two years with the Gamecocks, where he was primarily responsible for the interior defensive line. He previously coached defensive ends at Illinois and Western Kentucky. In 2005, Lindsey overlapped with LSU defensive coordinator Matt House at Gardner-Webb.

LSU had an opening after former defensive line coach Jamar Cain left after one season to become a pass-rush specialist with the Denver Broncos. The Tigers used analyst Gerald Chatman in the interim through spring practice. Chatman has since become Tulane’s defensive line coach.

“We placed a high importance level on SEC familiarity with recruiting,” Kelly said in May about Lindsey's hire. “Felt like it was very, very important to know the landscape of recruiting defensive linemen in the SEC. That was like No.

1 and 2 on the profile. ” Jancek, a longtime defensive coordinator with multiple SEC stints, spent the past three seasons as a defensive analyst at Georgia and LSU. He assumed an on-field position after former special teams coordinator Brian Polian moved into a general manager role until he became the John Carroll University athletic director.

Diaco, the head coach at UConn from 2014-16, recently was the New Jersey Generals defensive line coach in the USFL. He has a track record with Kelly, previously coaching with him at Central Michigan (2005), Cincinnati (2009) and Notre Dame from 2010-13. Diaco won the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant while helping Notre Dame reach the 2012 BCS national championship.

Although Diaco will oversee special teams, Kelly implemented a decentralized approach after LSU struggled last season. The Tigers' other assistant coaches have coached certain units, and analyst Lester Erb designs the schematic game plans. .