Saturday, March 25, 2023
Alabama Football Daily News & Updates
  • Alabama Football
  • Recruiting
  • Alabama in the NFL
  • Videos
No Result
View All Result
  • Alabama Football
  • Recruiting
  • Alabama in the NFL
  • Videos
No Result
View All Result
Alabama Football Daily News & Updates
No Result
View All Result
Home Recruiting

LSU-Alabama football rivalry’s future to rest on recruiting | LSU

BAMA Football Today by BAMA Football Today
November 2, 2022
in Recruiting
0 0
0
LSU-Alabama football rivalry’s future to rest on recruiting | LSU
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


In the days after they joined LSU’s staff, multiple coaches went to Isidore Newman and visited Nelson Stewart.

Brian Kelly came by the school with associate head coach and New Orleans recruiting guru Frank Wilson on a tour through the state. Recruiting coordinator Brian Polian arrived so soon after getting hired that all he had in the way of gear was one LSU pullover. Quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan called on his first day.

Every one of them talked about more than football. Kelly took an interest in Stewart’s career, his family and local food, asking questions to develop a relationship with the longtime Newman coach. Polian and Stewart discussed their kids. Sloan stayed in touch ever since, even though five-star Newman quarterback Arch Manning chose Texas over the summer.

“You can tell there was great attention to detail,” Stewart said. “Even little things.”

The conversations and similar ones with high school coaches throughout Louisiana have been vital to the future of LSU’s program. Kelly inherited a depleted roster, and even though he already has No. 10 LSU playing No. 6 Alabama for control of the SEC West this weekend, he remains in the early stages of an overhaul.

Ultimately, Kelly wants LSU to reach the consistency coach Nick Saban established at Alabama. Saban created a dynasty through recruiting top players, often dipping into Louisiana along the way. In order to get to that point, Kelly knows he and the staff have to recruit at a similarly high level.

Kelly thinks replenishing the roster will take multiple cycles. He prefers to sign and develop freshmen, but he expects LSU will use the transfer portal again at a couple positions this offseason.

While unclear which ones, he has said LSU needs depth on either side of the line. The Tigers may also need more defensive backs after signing several veteran transfers.

“We’re much better than we were last year,” Kelly said. “We’ll get better this year, and then hopefully in another year this is just about player development and bringing in freshmen.

“That’s stage two in terms of getting to where we need to be to hopefully get to that final narrative of upstaging Alabama. But we’re certainly not there yet.”

For Kelly, getting there starts with recruiting and evaluating Louisiana. The state produced the second-most NFL players (65) per capita on opening weekend rosters, and LSU doesn’t have to compete for them with another in-state Power Five team, one of the reasons Kelly took the job.

So far, LSU signed three of the state’s top-10 recruits in the last cycle, which often happens during a coaching change. It has four of the top-10 Louisiana prospects in the 2023 class, but the staff didn’t have time to catch up with a lot of them. LSU’s class is still ranked No. 7 because of national connections.

“This adage of locking down the borders is like being a lockdown corner,” Kelly said. “You know, there are no lockdown corners, OK? There are good corners, and there are corners that are elite. We can be elite in the state of Louisiana, and that’s what we need to do.”

Kelly emphasized focusing on the entire state. Missing in certain areas, particularly north Louisiana, became an issue near the end of former LSU coach Les Miles’ tenure, and the best players who didn’t choose LSU often picked Alabama instead.

The Crimson Tide signed five players from north Louisiana who ranked in the top 20 in the state in their class from 2012-2017, including crucial players like offensive tackle Cam Robinson and defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis. LSU signed seven during the same time period.

“Nick Saban was the architect of LSU’s (2003) national championship team, so when he got back to the college ranks, he went back to that recruiting ground,” said On3 national recruiting analyst Sam Spiegelman, who’s based in New Orleans. “He’s honestly never left.”

Recruiting experts and high school coaches in the area said the trend changed under former LSU coach Ed Orgeron and continued thus far with Kelly.

Within the last two classes, the Tigers dipped into Monroe for top-100 offensive tackles Will Campbell and Zalance Heard. Former teammates, they both played at Neville High. Campbell is starting at left tackle as a true freshman. Heard is considered the No. 6 player at his position, according to the 247Sports composite.

“If Alabama and LSU are both recruiting the same guy, before coach O, the chances of them going to Alabama were probably pretty good,” Neville head coach Jeff Tannehill said. “I think coach O narrowed the gap, and I think coach Kelly has closed the gap quite a bit. He’s tried to do everything he could to keep those kids in-state.”

Without ties to Louisiana himself, Kelly hired staff members who had connections. Wilson, a New Orleans native, was LSU’s recruiting coordinator for six years and coached at McNeese State. Sloan worked at Louisiana Tech for nine seasons. Offensive line coach Brad Davis grew up in Baton Rouge. Wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton is from New Orleans. Multiple key staff members, including director of recruiting JR Belton, were raised in Louisiana.

All of them have recruited the state for years at various levels. The ones who spent time at smaller programs know how to find unheralded prospects with upside.

“Those guys know to look in every nook and cranny in the state of Louisiana,” said Mike Scarborough, the publisher at TigerBait.com, “because they’re used to having to recruit the mid-major programs and find those diamonds in the rough that maybe doesn’t quite have the measurables.”

Time will tell how successful Kelly and his assistants are in recruiting the state. They have to navigate name, image and likeness and the transfer portal in a new era of college football. And they have to fend off rivals like Alabama.

LSU is using the game against the Crimson Tide as a major recruiting platform, hoping to convince players to commit or come back over the next few months. Multiple targets scheduled visits to watch the only top 10 primetime matchup of the season in Tiger Stadium.

One of the prospects in attendance will be cornerback Desmond Ricks. The five-star reclassified to graduate early from IMG Academy, making him one of the top uncommitted players in the 2023 class.

A handful of schools have a chance with Ricks. Among them are LSU and Alabama.





Source link

Related

Tags: lsu-alabamarecruitingrivalry’s
Previous Post

Derrick Henry, Za’Darius Smith win NFL awards

Next Post

LSU rivalry returns to prominence

BAMA Football Today

BAMA Football Today

Related Posts

10 NFL players from Alabama colleges and high schools are on … – The Bama Buzz
Recruiting

Top 10 Incoming College Football Classes: Recruiting, Transfers – Sports Illustrated

by BAMA Football Today
February 4, 2023
10 NFL players from Alabama colleges and high schools are on … – The Bama Buzz
Recruiting

What Tommy Rees hiring means for Alabama football recruiting – Touchdown Alabama Magazine

by BAMA Football Today
February 4, 2023
10 NFL players from Alabama colleges and high schools are on … – The Bama Buzz
Recruiting

Ohio State football 2023 recruiting class after National Signing Day – ClutchPoints

by BAMA Football Today
February 3, 2023
10 NFL players from Alabama colleges and high schools are on … – The Bama Buzz
Recruiting

Recruiting Rundown: Alabama Football Back on Top, Philon Chooses Auburn – Sports Illustrated

by BAMA Football Today
February 3, 2023
10 NFL players from Alabama colleges and high schools are on … – The Bama Buzz
Recruiting

TideIllustrated – Recruiting rewind: New offers continue to roll in for … – Rivals.com – Alabama

by BAMA Football Today
February 3, 2023
Next Post
LSU rivalry returns to prominence

LSU rivalry returns to prominence

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Browse by Category

  • Alabama Football
  • Alabama in the NFL
  • Recruiting
  • Videos

Browse by Tags

#alabamafootball alabama-birmingham alabama’s bamainsider basketball breakdown: championship commanders commitment commitments, coordinator cornerback everything first-round fitzpatrick football… football’s georgia’s highlights hurricanes illustrated impressive mississippi nation’s o’brien officially performance predicting prediction, predictions projection projections quarterback recruiting scholarship spotlight: state’s storylines tagovailoa? tide’s to’oto’o, vanderbilt volunteers what’s ‘alabama

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022

Categories

  • Alabama Football
  • Alabama in the NFL
  • Recruiting
  • Videos

Recent Posts

  • Top 10 Incoming College Football Classes: Recruiting, Transfers – Sports Illustrated
  • How the Bears can nail the NFL Draft: A road map through all 7 rounds – Chicago Sun-Times
  • What Tommy Rees hiring means for Alabama football recruiting – Touchdown Alabama Magazine
  • Report: Prominent College Football Assistant Coach Accepts NFL Job – msnNOW
  • Ohio State football 2023 recruiting class after National Signing Day – ClutchPoints

Categories

  • Alabama Football
  • Alabama in the NFL
  • Recruiting
  • Videos

Contact Us

© 2021 Bama Football Today

No Result
View All Result
  • Alabama Football
  • Recruiting
  • Alabama in the NFL
  • Videos

© 2021 Bama Football Today

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?