It appears that, indeed, LSU filling a coaching vacancy will come at the expense of a fellow SEC member.
According to a report from 247Sports.com, Georgia wide receivers coach Tony Ball is expected to assume the same position at LSU. The football program, per the report, has already offered Ball the job.
The recruiting website does offer up a qualifier, writing that Ball “intends to take an opportunity to join the Tigers’ staff, barring any change of heart or snag in the process.” It doesn’t appear, though, that there any potential snags in the offing.
Tony Ball confirms to me via text that he has in fact accepted a job to be the wide receivers coach at #LSU.
— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) February 13, 2015
Ball confirmed Wednesday that he was interested in the LSU position and would be interviewing for the job. Maryland’s Keenan McCardell was also a reported candidate who interviewed.
Ball has been an assistant on Mark Richt’s UGA staff since 2006, first serving as running backs coach (2006-08) before moving over to receivers in 2009. In addition to UGA, he’s also spent time on staffs at Virginia Tech (1998-2005) and Louisville (1995-97). He served as receivers coach at each of those stops.
UPDATE [9:20 p.m. ET]: Tony Ball apparently didn’t experience a change of heart at any point between this morning and this evening. The LSU Tigers officially named Ball their new wide receivers coach Friday.
“Tony is a very talented coach who is a SEC veteran,” LSU head coach Les Miles said in a statement. “He’s going to be a real asset for us in the passing game. He’s going to be able to come in and take our group of receivers and develop them into great players. We are excited about having him join our staff.”
(Photo credit: Georgia athletics)
