Eye on the Tigers

Head coach Nick Rolovich and graduate assistants Mikahael Waters and Makana Garrigan returned from a three-day visit with the LSU coaching staff.

“It was good, for me, to see how somebody else operates — from team meetings to practice flow to how they attack recruiting to, on a smaller scale, what kind of facility upgrades can we make, can we strive for,” Rolovich said.

Rolovich said he enjoyed the reunion with LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda. Rolovich and Aranda were opposite-side coordinators on Greg McMackin’s staff.

“I think Dave Aranda is the best football coach in America,” Rolovich said, “and it’s great to just talk football with him, especially from the opposing side.”

The UH coaches also spent time with offensive coordinator Matt Canada, who ran Pitt’s offense last year. Canada also has been the OC at North Carolina State, Wisconsin, Indiana and Northern Illinois.

“I think they have some interesting play designs that maybe we can adopt to try to get the ball into some of our guys’ hands a little better,” Rolovich said.

The UH coaches also had an inside view to the other side. LSU has analysts and GAs in several departments, including recruiting and video. The Tigers also have a general manager for football.

“Just what LSU means to that community is pretty impressive,” Rolovich said. “There’s a part of our community where UH means that to those people. It’s just (LSU has) a different level of monetary support, and that’s being in the SEC.”

According to a USA Today study on the 2014-2015 academic year, LSU’s athletic department ranked seventh nationally with $138,642,237 in revenue. UH’s revenue was $43,116,142 that year, according to the report.