BATON ROUGE, La. – Last month, LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda rebuffed overtures from Texas A&M to remain with the Tigers. Thursday, he spoke publicly about the decision for the first time. “I love the players here,” Aranda said on “Off the Bench” on 104.5 ESPN Baton Rouge. Aranda singled out rising junior linebacker Devin […]
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On Friday, the LSU Board of Supervisors approved unanimously the buyout of former offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s contract for $1.7 million. In the lengthy separation agreement, Canada agreed not to sue LSU or speak disparagingly of the university. While Canada and Ed Orgeron might not have gotten along, the same is apparently not true for […]
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LSU has added a quarterback for the class of 2018 and didn’t have to wait until James Foster made his decision on Signing Day to get him. Jordan Loving of Riverside Academy in Reserve, La. accepted an offer to join the Tigers as a preferred walk-on. He had offers from Northwestern State and Louisiana College, […]
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BATON ROUGE, La. – A picture often can become clear with the benefit of hindsight. LSU coaches and fans were surprised Wednesday when five-star cornerback Patrick Surtain Jr. signed with Alabama after declaring LSU as his leader throughout his years-long recruitment. But Surtain’s father, Patrick Surtain, Sr., might have provided a glimpse into his son’s […]
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BATON ROUGE, La. – New LSU offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger said Thursday that rising sophomore quarterback Myles Brennan will take the first snaps with the starting offense this spring. “Yes, Myles is going to take the first snap of spring practice, but as we get into teams and we get into scrimmages, I’ve got to […]
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BATON ROUGE, La. – One of Ed Orgeron’s new staff members got a ringing endorsement from a former Tigers standout now in the NFL. Joe Barksdale just finished his seventh NFL season and third with the Los Angeles Chargers, where he was tutored by new LSU offensive line coach James Cregg in 2017. “He’s going […]
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BATON ROUGE, La. – With National Signing Day less than a week in the rearview mirror, the attention is already turning to the 2019 cycle, a year that will produce a bumper crop of blue-chippers in Louisiana. One of the headliners of the class is LSU commitment Kardell Thomas, a five-star guard who is the […]
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BATON ROUGE, La. — After signing LSU’s lowest-rated recruiting class since Les Miles’ first in 2005, Ed Orgeron will look for a big recruiting year in 2019. He won’t have to search too far: 13 players in Louisiana are four-star prospects or above. The headliner of the class is the nation’s No. 1 overall player, […]
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After not signing a cornerback in the 2018 class, LSU is short on numbers at the position with only four returning scholarship corners. Ed Orgeron announced safety signee Kelvin Joseph will play corner, but the Tigers will also look for DB help at other spots on the roster. “We think we’ll move Mannie Netherly from […]
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BATON ROUGE, La. – After spending the past four seasons coaching in the NFL, there is no mystery as to what lured new LSU offensive line coach James Cregg back to the college game. “I wouldn’t have come back to college football to work for anybody else besides ‘Coach O,’ ” Cregg said Thursday of […]
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BATON ROUGE, La. – At the risk of dabbling in hyperbole, this just might be the most important spring for LSU football in more than a decade. There was intrigue a year ago with Ed Orgeron’s first season as coach, which also featured new offensive coordinator Matt Canada. But after a 9-4 debut season that […]
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Nearly two months after being hired as LSU’s new safeties coach, Bill Busch seems to be settling into life in the SEC quite nicely. “You get one shot in your life to coach at LSU,” Busch said on “Hangin’ with Hester” on 104.5 ESPN Baton Rouge. “This is about as cool as it gets.” Busch […]
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It has been 20 years since Steve Ensminger was a full-time offensive coordinator in college football. With that long of a hiatus, any glimpse into his past as a play-caller is a speculative glimpse into the future for LSU fans. Pro Football Hall of Famer Willier Roaf provided a peek into his experience with Ensminger […]
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After coming up empty at cornerback on National Signing Day, LSU dipped into the graduate transfer market to fortify “DBU.” Terrence Alexander signed with the Tigers this week after spending the past four years at Stanford. “It’s a rare situation where (LSU) would actually need a guy to come in and help give depth and […]
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Every year since 1982, Greg McMahon has been coaching football. Needless to say, his season as on off-field analyst for LSU in 2017 was a difficult adjustment. Now, as LSU’s special teams coordinator, McMahon is back on the field and loving it. “It’s wonderful,” McMahon said on “Hangin’ with Hester” on 104.5 ESPN Baton Rouge. […]
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LSU wraps up spring practice Satuday in Tiger Stadium with the National L Club Spring Game. With more than a dozen starters and key contributors from last season gone and a new offensive staff in place, there is plenty of curiosity surrounding the action. Here’s what I’ll have my eye on: Quarterbacks Shocking, right? All […]
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LSU wraps up spring practice Satuday in Tiger Stadium with the National L Club Spring Game. With more than a dozen starters and key contributors from last season gone and a new offensive staff in place, there is plenty of curiosity surrounding the action. Here’s what I’ll have my eye on: Quarterbacks Shocking, right? All […]
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Don’t let a 28-27 final score fool you. LSU’s National L Club Spring Game Saturday in Tiger Stadium was an affair largely dominated by the defense. Ed Orgeron asked for patience from fans with only 35 percent of the new offense installed. While there were flashes of talent and promise from young players and newcomers, […]
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I’ve ignored the conversation long enough. After reading Mike Mayock’s final mock draft at NFL.com, I can’t ignore it any longer. The veteran prognosticator projects LSU running back Derrius Guice to the Eagles with the final pick of Round 1 in Thursday’s NFL Draft. The selection is plausible. The explanation is asinine. “He’s a north-south […]
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LSU will enter the 2018 season as one of the most puzzling teams to predict in the nation. No power program may have more major questions to answer than the Tigers. No. 1 Reason for Optimism: If the old saying “Games are won or lost in the trenches” holds true, LSU could be OK in […]
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A major storyline for LSU during its recently completed spring practices was improving a special teams unit that ranked among the bottom of the SEC in nearly every relevant category a season ago. According to junior long snapper Blake Ferguson, new special teams coordinator Greg McMahon has made great strides towards that goal. “Having Coach […]
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Nearly two weeks after the NFL Draft, those close to Derrius Guice are still miffed by his fall amid questions over perceived character issues. Count former LSU running back Justin Vincent in that number. “I am highly disappointed with the way that the NFL handled this situation,” Vincent said on “Hangin’ with Hester” on 104.5 […]
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LSU announced this week that Jerry Stovall will become only the 13th former athlete or coach to have his or her jersey retired by the school. It’s an honor that still has not sunk in for the 77-year-old former All-American and head coach of the Tigers. “You go into the stadium and you see the […]
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When K.J. Malone decided to retire from football after spending last weekend in rookie minicamp with the Houston Texas, his reasons were twofold: injuries and a higher calling. A knee injury caused him to miss six games of his senior season. It happened at Florida during the first series of the game. “I was trying […]
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Tales of the 1986 LSU football coaching search have been told in press rooms and bar rooms all over Baton Rouge for more than 30 years. In some variation, the story goes that Steve Spurrier—then the head coach of the USFL’s Tampa Bay Bandits—was stood up at the airport by LSU brass. The Head Ball […]
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Dating back to Kevin Faulk’s time in Baton Rouge, LSU has produced seven First-Team All-SEC running backs. That number does not include familiar names like Joe Addai, Justin Vincent, Jacob Hester and Spencer Ware. There have been 16 LSU running backs on NFL rosters in that same timeframe. To put it simply, LSU has rarely […]
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LSU will have to wait a while to see 2020 quarterback commit TJ Finley in the purple and gold, but his commitment was a long time coming. “LSU has been my dream school since I was a kid,” Finley said on my radio show Wednesday. “I grew up knowing LSU, knowing Coach Les Miles winning […]
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While LSU will enter the 2018 season with notable holes in the roster, the unquestioned strength of the defense will be its line. Nobody would know that better than Pete Jenkins, the man who coached the unit the past two seasons. “Those three guys, you can go to war with those three guys,” Jenkins said […]
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By her own admission, Leah Banks-Meeks was surprised when her son, three-star cornerback Marcus “Speedy” Banks, verbally committed to LSU over the weekend. “I thought maybe we were going to wait until the end of this month when he went to the Nike Opening,” she said on my radio show. “But things happen.” Whatever you […]
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Any coaches that had aspirations of flipping Derek Stingley Jr.’s commitment from LSU might be better served committing their time and energy elsewhere according to the five-star cornerback’s father. “He’s 100 percent in,” Derek Stingley, Sr. said Wednesday on my radio show. “I don’t play those type games and Derek knows that.” Stingley was first […]
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For senior running back Nick Brossette, 2018 is literally his now-or-never season. The former four-star prospect who came to LSU after a record-setting high school career has found himself consistently as the odd man out amid a loaded depth chart. It was fellow classmate Derrius Guice who earned reps as a freshman in 2015 behind […]
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When LSU convenes for fall camp next month, one of the biggest questions will be who starts at cornerback opposite All-American Greedy Williams. Defensive coordinator Dave Aranda might have tipped his hand as to who has to early lead. “Kary Vincent is one that comes to mind,” Aranda said on “Off the Bench” on 104.5 […]
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For the second time in as many seasons, LSU will unveil a new offense. The difference in 2018, according to Ed Orgeron, is continuity among his coaching staff. “I totally trust our offensive staff,” Orgeron said on “After Further Review” on 104.5 ESPN Baton Rouge. Steve Ensminger takes over as offensive coordinator after Matt Canada […]
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In an effort to limit Nick Saban’s legion of staffers from having an impact on game day, the NCAA passed a rule limiting teams to 20 headsets. Saban and his former lieutenant Jimbo Fisher may have discovered a way around this rule when they won the 2003 national championship at LSU. “I had a fake […]
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In an interview in ESPN last week, Nick Saban fired a right hook on the chin of college football’s scheduling format. “Playing a bunch of games that nobody’s interested in is not good for the game,” Saban said on First Take as he lobbied for an expanded conference schedule and Power Five teams playing only […]
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A major point of emphasis this off-season for LSU coach Ed Orgeron was increasing the number of analysts on staff, doubling the number from five to ten. Apparently, it could have been eleven but for a new NCAA rule. Former NFL quarterback and current Houston sports radio host Sean Salisbury Tweeted Monday that he was […]
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If there is one positive to come from an NCAA appeals committee upholding LSU cornerback Kristian Fulton’s two-year suspension, it’s that yet another tidal wave of angry fans will crash upon its shore, further eroding the organization’s credibility and moving one day closer to its inevitable extinction. For those unfamiliar with the story, here is […]
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It would be so easy to write a column about another quarterback failing to realize his potential at LSU. That, however, has been done many times—too many times. With redshirt freshman Lowell Narcisse announcing Tuesday his intent to transfer from LSU, the former four-star joins an expansive list of talented prep prospects that never materialized […]
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College football’s king troll is at it again. Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin was a guest Thursday on “Off the Bench” on 104.5 ESPN Baton Rouge. He was asked about the 2014 LSU-Alabama game in Tiger Stadium. Kiffin was Alabama’s offensive coordinator then when the No. 5 Crimson Tide rallied for an overtime win against […]
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An about face by the NCAA has given a big boost to the LSU secondary. Ed Orgeron announced Thursday that defensive back Kristian Fulton has been ruled immediately eligible by the NCAA. Fulton had been serving a two-year suspension for attempting to submit a fraudulent urine sample during an NCAA drug test following his freshman […]
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If there was something Saturday equally as surprising as the final score on The Plains, it might have been LSU’s ability to protect quarterback Joe Burrow against a talented Auburn defensive front. Allowing two sacks and five quarterback hurries might not seem like a good day at the office, but context is everything. Burrow was […]
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If teams want to beat Alabama this season, they will likely have to keep pace with the Crimson Tide offense which is averaging 53.8 points per game. Perhaps they would be wise to listen to a coach who has had as much success scoring against Nick Saban’s defenses as any since he’s been in Tuscaloosa. […]
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Four games into the 2018 season, LSU is one of the biggest surprises in the country. At 4-0 and ranked No. 5, the Tigers have leaned on an efficient offense, dominant special teams, and an athletic, suffocating defense to snag the nation’s attention. A big part of the Tigers defensive success is sophomore safety Grant […]
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An LSU offensive line that has been hit hard with injuries and suspension received good news Tuesday. Ed Orgeron was a guest on “Off the Bench” on 104.5 EPSN Baton Rouge Tuesday and updated the injury status of starting center Lloyd Cushenberry. Cushenberry was injured Saturday against Ole Miss. “I think he’s going to be […]
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Baton Rouge, La. – On Saturday afternoon in Baton Rouge, LSU scored the program’s biggest win since the 2011 “Game of the Century” at Alabama when the No. 1 Tigers defeated No. 2 Crimson Tide, 9-6. I am not big into hyperbole and admittedly, we are often prisoners of the moment. With the sights and […]
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For the first time since All-American linebacker Devin White was ejected for a controversial targeting foul Saturday, Ed Orgeron discussed losing his star defender. “I want to say something about that call,” Orgeron said Tuesday on “Off the Bench” on 104.5 ESPN Baton Rouge. “It’s very unfortunate. I thought it was very unfair. I didn’t […]
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During its seven game losing streak to Alabama, LSU has scored an average of 10.4 points per game. According to one coach who knows both teams well, this could be the Tigers chance for an offensive breakthrough against the Crimson Tide defense. “They’re not as deep as we’ve seen them in the last few years,” […]
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Since everyone is giving their prediction this week of the LSU-Alabama game, why should Les Miles be left out of the fun? The former LSU head coach gave his breakdown on the “Les Is More” podcast this week and was specific about what it will take to win and what the difference will be. “The […]
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After LSU was shut out by Alabama Saturday in Tiger Stadium, many are looking for answers offensively. One former NFL quarterback is offering his services. “(Ed Orgeron) doesn’t have to fire (Steve) Ensminger,” he said. “He can just add me.” Salisbury was a guest on the “Josh Innes Show” Friday on Sportstalk 790 in Houston, […]
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John Emery Sr. was planning on future recruiting trips with his son, five-star running back John Emery Jr, when he received a call Tuesday night. John had tweeted his commitment to LSU. “It’s a no-brainer,” Emery Sr. said Wednesday on my radio show. The younger Emery is rated as the No. 2 running back in […]
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