After Recent Recruiting Surge, 2022 Defensive Lineman Francois Nolton Excited by LSU Football Offer

For the last two weeks, LSU 2022 defensive line recruit Francois Nolton has been answering calls left and right. It's been an unprecedented time in Nolton's recruiting process, one that's seen his offer list jump nearly double in the last two weeks alone.

Since April 21, Nolton has received offers from Penn State, Florida State, Pittsburgh, Florida, Alabama and most recently, LSU. Nolton says the offers always seem to come at the most inopportune times but it doesn't take away from the excitement any less.

"It always seems to happen whenever I'm going to workout or when I'm outside or doing school work," Nolton said. "My head coach calls me and tells me this coach or that coach offered me or gives me the number to call them."

As it pertains to the LSU offer, Nolton described the moment as "crazy." It all began with his head coach, like many times before, calling him with cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond on the other line.

The purpose of the conversation was to not only let Nolton know he had been offered from the Tigers but to also tell him coach Ed Orgeron wanted to speak with him the next morning.

"So I call him the next morning and let me tell you, coach O is the coolest coach I've ever met or spoken to," Nolton said. "Everything we were talking about, he was able to relate and cracking jokes and just telling me how much he wants me up in Baton Rouge. It was a real cool moment for sure."

The plan for Nolton initially was to come for a camp but with the SEC recently deciding to cancel all camps through the summer, Nolton will catch a game in the fall instead.

While he's never been on LSU's campus before, the Miami native out of Edison High School can't wait to finally make it for a trip.

"I've been watching them for a couple of years now and obviously I'd always watch the Alabama-LSU game and that's always a tight matchup," Nolton said. "I watched a lot of the games this year and one I was really focused on was the Florida game. The stadium was crazy, the fans were crazy and the defense just plays with so much energy and fun. That's the kind of school I want to go to."

While he loves to catch LSU games any time he can, Nolton is a self described film junky, dissecting and emulating the film of NFL stars like Von Miller, JJ Watt and Vic Beasley.

Some of the traits Nolton likes to take from a player like Miller is his speed and technique.

"My coach always tells me I'm either going to go against guys that are bigger than you, stronger than you, faster or slower, so when I go against those guys, I try to look for my advantage," Nolton said. "I look at a guy like Von Miller who may not be the biggest guy but he uses his speed and technique to his advantage, which is what I try to do."

Now Nolton isn't exactly a small prospect. Standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 225 pounds, there's a lot of room for growth to fill in that body as he heads into his junior season. Every coach Nolton has talked to says he has a quick get off and a variety of moves he displays to get after the quarterback.

At this time, Nolton is expecting to narrow his focus on teams by the end of the summer but said in the same breath his ultimate focus at the moment is making sure he's getting better every day.

"I'm not looking for any other offers, like expecting them or anything but instead I'm focusing on my team and on me," Nolton said. "I always work on technique, I want to become a better defensive lineman by film but one thing I really want to work on is getting bigger.

"It's my junior year and I don't want to be just known as a pass rusher, I want to be known as an all around defensive end. Last year I played at 205 and now I'm up to 226 so I'm working on my weight and explosiveness. My coach wants me at 230 so that's the goal right now."

Nolton said playing for a major program like LSU has always been the goal and now that he's starting to get the attention he deserves, it makes him want to work all the more harder.

"It would be huge No. 1 because it's a big SEC school and then they have championship experience," Nolton said. "When I talk to a coach, the first thing he tells me is that if you go to a school like LSU or Alabama, it's championship or nothing. By me going there, I'd be hyped and do whatever I can to help the team get back to the championship."