After "Dead Sprint" LSU Staff Pleased With 2022 Class, Future of Recruiting
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It hasn't been an easy transition for any of the new LSU coaches. Not only did Brian Kelly's hire come just a few weeks before the early signing period, the staff hires were methodical and diligent.
Which is why when each coach was announced and brought in one by one, it was described as a "dead sprint" to attack this recruiting cycle in the best way possible. For special teams and recruiting coordinator Brian Polian, who's been with Kelly since 2017, the task at hand was laying out a recruiting structure in a matter of weeks and executing it to the best of their ability.
LSU signed 15 freshmen and 13 transfers between the two signing periods, with coaches sprinkling in at different times throughout that crucial six week period. There's a common theme with the talent Kelly and this staff brought in and that is ties to Louisiana. Of the total 28 signees, 18 have ties to Louisiana as natives of the state.
For Polian, the core of his job is to ensure that those 28 spots LSU filled are going to positions of need while adding quality depth across the roster.
"Really my job is to ensure coach Kelly's vision of recruiting," Polian said. "My experience as a head coach and special teams coordinator helps because I see the big picture. I'm not focused on one side of the ball, I'm constantly looking at the big picture to not only see where we're at now but where we need to be in the future."
When laid out the structure makes a ton of sense and it's easy to see why Kelly went this route in laying out the recruiting structure. Polian's role as recruiting coordinator will be through roster building, player evaluation and keeping the offense and defense in constant communication.
He's going to lean heavily on associate head coach Frank Wilson, quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan, receivers coach Cortez Hankton and really all of the support staff that know Louisiana well to build relationships with recruits. It'll allow Polian to focus on building for the present and future, addressing team needs and in the end, be a solid foundation for Kelly and the rest of the staff to be organized in their approach to recruiting.
"There's no doubt that coach Wilson is going to be a strong asset as it relates to the recruiting operation. We are going to lean on his expertise in the state," Polian said. "I don't accept the role of recruiting coordinator and come in and act as though I understand fully the landscape of the state, the relationships, the history, that's not my strong suit."
For Wilson, the transition has been seamless and the working relationship he and Polian have already begun to build is already paying dividends for LSU on the recruiting trail.
"He's been great. He's been with coach Kelly for a while, I actually got a chance to interview him back in 2011, he interviewed with us," Wilson said. "From an organization standpoint he fits us well. He comes to me often, we share information, ask questions, it's a healthy relationship that I think we'll thrive on."
Of course there are two seismic shifts that have really taken off over the last few years in college recruiting, the transfer portal and of course NIL. The portal in particular was an avenue that Polian said really helped shape the roster and while the focus for the future is on finding freshmen to build around, the Tigers found a nice balance of young players with many years of eligibility remaining and experienced transfers who will help right away as leaders.
There are still four spots remaining in this class and Polian said the staff will continue to talk through needs in the portal. Polian said he leaned on his father, longtime NFL executive Bill Polian as well as his brother Chris in helping prioritize needs in the transfer portal, which he equated to the NFL free agency market.
"We couldn't take a huge number of guys with only a year left because then the roster gets top heavy," Polian said. "That was difficult and for a lack of a better term that's what the transfer portal is, you're a one time free agent. We had to be responsible with how we handled that."
"It's difficult because it's a moving target," Polian said of NIL. "In the end I don't think NIL was the deciding factor in many cases but I know coach Kelly, our administration, our community, as NIL develops we are going to stay at the front end of it."
Just looking ahead to the immediate future of recruiting, the state of Louisiana has many of the top players in the country right in LSU's backyard. Certainly there will be a shift in focus to getting this current team on the right track before spring practice.
But this recruiting staff has been built in very short order and there's no telling what this group will accomplish with more time and resources under its belt.
