LSU Hoping to Find Right Balance in Filling Out Rest of 2022 Roster

Watching LSU against Kansas State it's apparent just how much more this team needs in roster depth ahead of the 2022 season. This roster at current construction has been absolutely gutted.

The Tigers were playing with 39 scholarship players in the Texas Bowl and with new coach Brian Kelly watching, there are some glaring areas that will need to be addressed while constructing the 2022 roster. Kelly has filled most of his coaching staff positions and with football finishing up in college, a number of those coaches can start attacking the next phase of the recruiting cycle.

While the purple and gold were playing for the final time Tuesday night, Kelly met with the ESPN broadcast group and talked about what the future of the program looks like. A big part of the immediate future is filling out the rest of this roster with many positions of need to fill.

With 13 signed and 12 spots remaining in the freshman class, there are still plenty of avenues Kelly can take. But the real heart of where the Tigers' first year coach wants to attack is through the transfer portal.

“We want to build everything from the freshman class, but we are going to have to use the transfer portal,” Kelly said. “We’ll be in a transitional build, so we’ll have to use the transfer portal. Moving forward, we want to build through freshman players that you bring in and develop. But we will have to use the transfer portal, and that makes it a little easier.”

At this time, offensive lineman Miles Frazier is the only transfer LSU has committed or signed. A new NCAA rule allows the program to match up to seven transfers with another player in the transfer portal, leaving the Tigers with six spots available.

There will be a focus in state, particularly with a couple of key prospects like safety Jacoby Mathews and running back TreVonte Citizen set to make their decisions in the next few weeks.

“I think it starts with the geographic recruiting base,” Kelly said. “We have the ability to recruit Louisiana and it’s a talent-rich area. I’m used to going across the country. To recruit Louisiana is an important piece for us, and I’m excited about that."

But another component of this is not only bringing in new players to the program but keeping the ones who are already here. The Tigers have recently lost cornerback Elias Ricks to Alabama, a gut wrenching loss to the SEC West rival. There were rumors that Kayshon Boutte could also be out the door but the star receiver shut those down and will return.

Interim coach Brad Davis has been in lock step with Kelly since he was hired in early December. The coaching staff has been on the road recruiting but the one area that was overshadowed was the pitch to the current players, something Davis feels Kelly has navigated extremely well.

"In the conversations that we've had, really, it's about managing a roster right now. We have to recruit our roster. What I mean by that is keeping guys in the program and then, obviously, creating a wholesale buy-in, and I think that he has been highly successful at that," Davis said.

Davis has been that coach to bridge the gap between one coach to the other over the last month and has seen how Kelly wants this ship steered. Now Kelly will take over and Davis has full confidence LSU will be back to its winning ways sooner than later.

"I think our guys are excited to turn the page and go compete for him. Right now, recruiting, obviously, is a big piece of it," Davis said. "We're heavily involved with that with trying to acquire new talent that we can get in and develop and allow us to go play. I've been excited about the staff that he has hired. I think he has gone out and has hired winners. He has brought people in that fit the culture that he wants to build. I really feel optimistic about the direction that LSU football is going to go."