They all look the same dressed in crimson.

You know how it goes – one minute you’re all hot and heavy, in pursuit of Kirby Smart, and the next you wind up with Kevin Steele as your new defensive coordinator.

Wait, what?  Les Miles goes from John Chavis to the guy whose last bit of work as a defensive coordinator was… er, this?  Feinting at Smart and winding up with Steele is the hiring equivalent of one of Miles’ patented fake field goal calls.  Sometimes they work and sometimes they blow up in his face.  That being said, it’s only fair to note that Saban obviously likes having Steele on his staff, and that can’t be a bad thing.

Perhaps the biggest thing in Steele’s favor is that he is one of the best recruiters in the country.  He was extremely well paid at Alabama as a position coach because of his value on the recruiting trail.  Saban is going to have to make some short-term adjustments in the wake of his departure a month before signing day.  Speaking selfishly, anything bad for Alabama in that regard can’t hurt in Athens. (Rico McGraw, maybe?)

But it’s not like LSU needs a whole lot of shoring up on the recruiting front, anyway.  And as for the rest of what Steele brings to Baton Rouge, as Billy at As The Valley Shook puts it, “I suspect his hire will go over like a fart in church.”  It’s certainly going to draw a fair amount of skepticism.  Cam Cameron had better step his game up in 2015, just in case.

************************************************************************

UPDATE:  If this report (“Per multiple sources, Ed Orgeron is expected to accept a position on LSU’s staff later today.”) is true, then the Hat is all in on the recruiting front.  Should be entertaining to see the Cajun edition of Wild Boys.

************************************************************************

UPDATE #2:  It’s a thing.