LSU Offensive Line Coach James Cregg Sees Lots of Potential, Room for Growth in 2020 Unit
One of the many storylines to come from last season’s title run was LSU’s offensive line, who earned the Joe Moore Award for the nation’s premier offensive line unit in college football.
Originally pinned as one of the more vulnerable units in the SEC, LSU’s group, led by junior center Lloyd Cushenberry, banded together to protect Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow all 2019 long. The group spent more time together and improved their chemistry, says coach James Cregg, becoming the most improved position group on the team — and possibly the entire country.
“They did a great job of coming together and putting in the work,” Cregg said in an interview with Hangin With Hester on 104.5 ESPN. “They had a vision of what they wanted to do. They put in the effort and extra time and you never had to watch what they were doing, they just went out and did it.”
In fact, Cregg compared Burrow’s relationship with Cushenberry to Peyton Manning and Jeff Saturday in their days with the Colts. They both shared a similar glue and bond with each other that’s essential between a quarterback and a center in order to have success on the field.
But with four of the five starters now gone to the NFL, Cregg has a new challenge on his hands to rebuild at the position. Even with a handful of key departures, the Tigers do return some experience with starting right tackle Austin Deculus, junior left guard Ed Ingram, sophomore Dare Rosenthal and new Harvard grad transfer Liam Shanahan, who earned first-team All-Ivy honors during his four-year career with the Crimson.
“It’ll be interesting, I’ll tell you that,” Cregg said. “Austin Deculus has played a lot of football for us. Ed [Ingram] is a lead by example guy, a lot like Lloyd [Cushenberry] was. Chasen Hines didn’t play much his first year, and last year wasn’t really right with his knee situation, but he’s battling back and working hard, and I expect a lot out of him this year as well.”
While LSU announced on Friday the return to voluntary athletic activities beginning June 8, Cregg says the past few months have been centered around interactive Zoom sessions and training camp installations.
“We get more in-depth talking about certain protections and going over calls,” Cregg said. “We’ll ask them questions on [Zoom] and make them answer and do the best you can to simulate some kind of football.”
Earlier this week in an interview with Off The Bench, head coach Ed Orgeron praised freshman Anthony Bradford as a guy who could be the most talented offensive lineman on the roster. Cregg would’ve loved to see more from him this spring, but he certainly agrees his future is bright.
“He certainly fits that bill,” Cregg said of Bradford. “He’s strong. But he’s got to get in the heat of the battle, lock arms and see how he strains and finishes the fight. That’s the thing you learn in spring, and that’s what I was hoping we would get.”
