Steve Ensminger (born September 15, 1958) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former player. He is an offensive analyst at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

(LSU).

Early years and playing career

Ensminger was born in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

and attended

(LSU). He played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a ...

from 1976 to 1979. During his career at LSU, he threw for 2,770 yards and 16 touchdowns and was named a freshman All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) selection in 1976. Following college, he played quarterback in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in 1980 and

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

in 1981. He also played for the

Hamilton Tiger Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(NFL) in 1980.

Coaching career

Ensminger began his coaching career at

Nicholls State University Nicholls State University is a public university in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Founded in 1948, Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System. Originally named Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the university is named for Francis T. Nicholl ...

as a wide receivers coach from 1982 to 1983. From 1984 to 1986 at

McNeese State University McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was renamed McNeese Junior College after John McNeese, an early local educator. The present name was adopted in 1970. ...

and at

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activ ...

from 1988 to 1990, he was

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

and

s coach. Starting in 1991 until 1993, he was quarterback coach and passing game coordinator at

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. From 1994 to 1996, Ensminger was offensive coordinator/quarterback coach at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

and then at Clemson from 1997 to 1998. Starting in 2000, Ensminger moved to the high school ranks as head football coach and athletic director at Central High School in

Central, Louisiana Central is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, second largest city in East Baton Rouge Parish, and part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area. The state's newest incorporated city in April 2005, Central had a 2020 census population ...

, until 2002. Also in 2002, he was wide receiver coach at

West Monroe High School West Monroe High School is a high school in West Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is administered by the Ouachita Parish School Board. WMHS is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The school's mascot is The R ...

West Monroe, Louisiana West Monroe is a city in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is situated on the Ouachita River, across from the neighboring city of Monroe. The two cities are often referred to as the Twin Cities of northeast Louisiana. Its population ...

. In 2003, Ensminger became quarterback coach at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

and from 2004 to 2008 he was the

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

coach at Auburn. In 2008, Ensminger also served as interim offensive coordinator after Auburn's offensive coordinator was let go during the season. In 2009, he returned to high school as the passing game coordinator at

Smiths Station High School Smiths Station High School is a high school in Smiths Station, Alabama, enrolling grades 9 to 12. The school enrolls over 1,382 students, and is one of four high schools in the Lee County School District along with Beauregard, Beulah, and ...

in Smiths Station, Alabama. Starting in 2010, Ensminger returned to Louisiana as the tight ends coach at LSU. When head coach

Les Miles Leslie Edwin Miles (born November 10, 1953) is a former American football coach. He most recently served as the head coach at Kansas. His head coaching career began with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, where he coached from 2001 to 2004. Following t ...

was dismissed after the fourth game of the 2016 season, interim head coach

Ed Orgeron Edward James Orgeron Jr. (; born July 27, 1961) is an American football coach. He was most recently the head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), a position he held from midway through the 2016 season until the 2021 season. Orger ...

promoted Ensminger to offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for the rest of the 2016 season. For the 2017 season, he returned to coaching tight ends. On January 10, 2018, Ensminger was again promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. LSU then went on to win the 2020 college football national championship.

Personal life

Ensminger is currently married to his wife, Amy Gonzales Ensminger, and has three children. On December 28, 2019, Ensminger's daughter-in-law, broadcaster

Carley Ann McCord Carley Ann McCord (July 24, 1989 – December 28, 2019) was an American sports reporter. Early life McCord was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She attended St. Michael the Archangel High School and graduated from Northwestern Stat ...

, was killed in a plane crash in

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...

, while traveling to cover the

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...

in Atlanta.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ensminger, Steve 1958 births Living people American football quarterbacks Auburn Tigers football coaches Clemson Tigers football coaches Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches LSU Tigers football players McNeese Cowboys football coaches New Orleans Saints players Nicholls Colonels football coaches Philadelphia Eagles players Texas A&M Aggies football coaches Players of American football from Baton Rouge, Louisiana