Not even 24 hours after LSU’s 56-27 Texas Bowl win against Texas Tech on Tuesday evening, LSU coach Les Miles is back in the same situation he was last year.
Kevin Steele, who served as LSU’s defensive coordinator for the 2015 season, is taking the open Auburn defensive coordinator job. The official announcement came from Auburn coach Gus Malzahn after the team’s Birmingham Bowl victory against Memphis.
Miles hired Steele last January along with current LSU defensive line coach Ed Orgeron. Steele previously served as Alabama’s linebackers coach before coming to Baton Rouge to replace former LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis, who now mans the same position at Texas A&M.
Chavis became the Aggies defensive coordinator just a day after LSU’s 2014 Music City Bowl loss to Notre Dame.
The 57-year-old Steele is replacing now South Carolina coach Will Muschamp, who served just one year at Auburn after a four-year head coaching stint at Florida.
Steele will be joining his brother, Jeff Steele, the associate athletic director for facilities and operations at Auburn.
Under Steele direction, LSU finished the season No. 27 nationally in total defense, which was good enough for fourth in the Southeastern Conference. On Tuesday night, the LSU defense held Texas Tech – the third-ranked scoring offense in the country – to 27 points, which is tied for its second-lowest amount of points on the season.
The Tigers also sacked Red Raider quarterback Patrick Mahomes six times on the night. 
However, LSU allowed 30 or more points in its three straight losses in November – all three were double-digit defeats. In total, LSU completed the year ranked No. 46 in scoring defense, No. 65 against the pass and No. 19 against the run while Steele was at LSU. 
The Tiger defense also notched just 17 turnovers on the year, which is tied for No. 89 in the country.