Ed Orgeron Excited by Early Enrollee Freshmen as LSU Prepares for Football School This Week
It's been a little over a week since LSU welcomed its nine early enrollee freshmen to campus and they're already starting to make an impact with the program. Among the early enrollees for this 2021 class are defensive tackle Maason Smith, quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and receiver Deion Smith.
From academics to the weight room and the training room, coach Ed Orgeron has heard nothing but glowing remarks from everyone he talks to about this mature freshman class that will be given opportunities this spring to push for playing time.
"They seem like they're all great character young men. They're gelling well, it's a great mix of some great players and I look forward to seeing them in Football School today," Orgeron said on Off the Bench Tuesday. "I'm excited to see the guys in uniform and in a team meeting."
As an early enrolee, with so many veterans on this roster in particular who are returning, there are a few things that Orgeron is looking closely at with each individual freshman.
"Show up early, be quiet, work hard," Orgeron said.
That's the role each freshman is given upon arrival and will separate the true leaders and potential candidates for playing time, from the ones who will be trying to crack the rotation. As Orgeron mentioned, the Tigers will start "Football School" on Tuesday, a series of meetings and on field work with no contact and no ball.
It's more of a walk through of general assignments and fundamentals that will take place over the next few weeks as the Tigers get settled with their new coaching staff and learn about each individual player's strengths and weaknesses. LSU will be without the freshman receiver Smith for football school as he recovers from an ankle injury while Nussmeier will also be limited as he continues to rehab a broken hand suffered in the last game of his high school career.
"More or less it's a meeting, we'll have a half hour meeting and we'll go on the field and walk through some of our individual instruction," Orgeron said of football school. "We can't go agianst each other, nothing like that. Put in plays, today we won't put any defense because our defensive coordinator is not here yet but just basic fundamental school."
