Ed Orgeron SEC Media Days Notebook: Recruiting, Coaches and NIL
As the Tigers shift their focus to Sept. 4th’s season opener against UCLA, the landscape of this LSU roster and staff has done a full 180. During Monday afternoon’s SEC Media Day, Coach Ed Orgeron detailed the rebuilt coaching staff, importance of recruiting and how the new NIL rule is a complete game changer.
Coaching Changes
After an uncharacteristic method of hiring last year’s staff, Orgeron described just how different this year’s process took place as he revamped this entire coaching staff, starting with offensive coordinator Jake Peetz along with defensive coordinator Daronte Jones.
“I did my research on these guys and they match everything that the ex-players told me, the ex-coaches told me and the knowledge that they have,” said Orgeron. “The one thing that I’m very impressed with, because they’re young coaches, is their ability to lead. I think they are tremendous leaders.”
With Peetz coming into the equation, this LSU playbook is set to have significant depth with the spread offensive scheme returning. A player’s coach, the entire locker room has been incredibly supportive of the adjustments he’s made as the new playbook has the opportunity to maximize the potential of each weapon on this roster.
Defensively, the entire staff has been virtually rebuilt with Orgeron hiring defensive coordinator Daronte Jones and adding both defensive line coach Andre Carter along with linebacker’s coach Blake Baker. With Jones and Orgeron fitting like a glove throughout all of spring and into summer, it’ll be exciting to see how things pan out for the defensive side of the ball.
“We're going to simplify stuff. We want our players to have their cleats in the grass,” said Orgeron. “We're going to play a lot more zone. They're not going to be switching off of this level, switching off of that level. We want our guys to play, keep the ball in front of us, and make plays.”
To compete for a national championship, it begins with developing a winning caliber roster, a focal point of Orgeron’s game plan. This Tigers staff has stressed the importance of keeping in-state talent in Louisiana and Coach O has kept his word, landing the state’s top five players in the 2022 class already.
“Obviously, we have to start in the state. We're doing very well right now. We have a big jump,” said Orgeron. “The guys that are committed in our class become leaders and become recruiters and are recruiting the other guys in the state of Louisiana.”
Headlined by five-star Lafayette native in Walker Howard, this 2022 group is shaping up to be yet another top class in the entire country. Both Howard and five-star offensive line commit Will Campbell have been recruiting the state’s top talent since the day they pledged to the Tigers.
“We expect some good news coming up soon,” said Orgeron.“We're going to be in some battles till the very end for some of the top players, but I do expect us to get most of these players. I'm not saying we're going to get all of them. I do expect us to get most.”
As the new name, image, likeness rule comes into the NCAA landscape, it plays a pivotal role in the recruiting scheme. With players wanting to be under the brightest of lights, the larger schools provide them with the bigger stage to showcase their talents. Coach Orgeron described the effects of the new NIL rule in today’s SEC Media Day.
Name, Image, Likeness Factor
“First of all, I'm for it. Whatever we can give to our players legally, I think they deserve it,” Orgeron said. “We hired an outside firm to give us some advice on how to handle this stuff. A lot of our guys have taken the business on their own and done a very good job.”
To kick things off, Myles Brennan signed an endorsement deal with Smoothie King while first-team All-American Derek Stingley Jr. inked a deal with Walk-Ons. The addition of NIL into the recruiting game changes things drastically and this LSU athletics department is fully aware and prepared to adapt.
“One of the things we did in the off-season is hire Austin Thomas back as our general manager,” said Orgeron. “He's done a tremendous job of putting together a personnel department, putting together a department that pays attention to all that stuff. We have to use it to compete, we all learn from each other, just like watching film.”
Final Thoughts
The revamped roster and coaching staff of this Tigers group shows promise again in Death Valley. The demeanor of Coach Orgeron resembles that of the 2019 season as he’s fully prepared to take matters into his own hands. Putting his foot down and making the necessary hires, Orgeron has learned from his previous mistakes in order to build this team back up again.
After a successful SEC Media Day Monday afternoon, Coach Orgeron and this team are locked in for Sept. 4th against UCLA. Having a newfound energy with this exceptional roster and the hiring of both Jake Peetz and Daronte Jones, light is beginning to shine bright again in Tiger Stadium.
