LSU makes Blake Baker the nation's highest-paid assistant coach with an annual salary of $2.5 million after hiring the Missouri defensive coordinator for the Tigers

LSU will make new defensive coordinator Blake Baker the highest-paid assistant coach in the country with an annual salary of $2.5 million.

Baker left Missouri, where he was the Tigers' defensive coordinator the past two seasons, for LSU on Friday. Mizzou's defense ranked No. 25 in the FBS and allowed just 20.9 points per game.

Perhaps more importantly, Missouri finished the season 11-2 and defeated blueblood Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.

When Baker took the Missouri job after not being hired at LSU when Brian Kelly was hired at the school in December 2021, we were taking over a defense that was ranked No. 113 in college football in the same category.

Baker signed a contract extension through the 2025 season with Missouri 13 days ago, on December 23, which also came with a pay increase from $1.4 million per year to $1.9 million.

After his contract extension with Missouri was announced, Baker posted on X part of Leonardo DiCaprio's speech from the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

DiCaprio and via-proxy Baker used the message “I'm not leaving!”

But about two weeks later, that message turned out to be untrue.

College football is a business first and Baker benefited from his tremendous success at Missouri, especially because his family had ties to the state of Louisiana.

Baker's total contract is a three-year deal worth $7.5 million. If he continues to turn defenses around, there will be enough cries from FBS schools to make him a head coach.

The previous record for highest-paid assistant coach was Clemson offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, who made $2.05 million in 2023.