Inside LSU Football's Strategy for Attacking 2023 Recruiting Class
LSU has its work cut out for it not just on the field in year one under Brian Kelly but on the recruiting trail as well. There are great needs at multiple positions when looking at the future of the program and recruiting coordinator Brian Polian will be one of the many who will be making those decisions.
Part of what the class looks like will be dictated by the NCAA according to Polian. There are three schools of thought that Polian and the Tigers are prepared to execute when that decision is ultimately handed down.
Will the program be back to 25 initial scholarships or will it be closer to 32 like it was for the 2022 class, including the matching of up to seven transfers from the program? Or will the NCAA come down with a ruling that says take as many initials as you like, just be at 85 scholarships by the time the season starts.
"We're prepared for all three scenarios. It's unlikely that if the number was back to 25 initials, there are gonna be schools like us that say can I get back to the full 85 if I'm only allowed 25 initials," Polian said. "Trying to set our board, identify our needs, I feel like we're in a really good place there."
Polian says the program has not had a "cattle haul" on campus, referencing the sheer amount of visitors from the 2023 class in the first handful of weeks of the open period. Instead the program has been very selective of the players who have come up for visits over the last three weeks, with a heavy focus on the upper echelon, targeted players the program is pursuing.
"I'm not panicked by the fact that we only have a handful of commitments right now," Polian said. "I think things will speed up here over the next four to six weeks. We're set up for some summer visits but I feel like we're on pace. The evaluation process has been really thorough and the coaches have been fantastic."
This is going to be a class that is defined by freshmen, particularly after taking in 14 transfers during the 2022 recruiting cycle to this point. Building for the future should be the goal for the recruiting staff as Polian noted the team could be behind the eight ball next year with several of those transfers likely moving on after one year with the program.
"The struggle for us is we're gonna sign a class before our underclassmen are going to declare for the NFL and then we still have guys going to the portal," Polian said. "So how do you truly address what your needs are until you pass those deadlines."
Addressing the depth along the offensive line and in the secondary, particularly at cornerback will be the focus of this class. With just two commitments in the 2023 class so far, one tight end and one wide receiver, finding multiple impact players along the o-line and cornerback group will be greatly needed if the program wants to get back to consistent winning.
How this 2023 class ultimately comes together will hinge on a number of factors but for Polian and LSU, there are contingency plans in play for all scenarios.
"I think the areas we felt like we were gonna take multiple guys, we know we're gonna take at least four offensive linemen," Polian said. "It's always fluid. Academics, transfer portal, all of those things could change the scenarios. We set our priorities pretty early and I think they're holding pretty true right now."
