LSU Country

LSU Football, Ohio State, Tennessee and South Carolina Finalists for Elite Lineman

Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers are firmly in the mix for the five-star offensive lineman, battling heavy-hitters.
Zack Nagy|
Courtesy of Darius Gray's Instagram.

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Richmond (Va.) St. Christopher School five-star offensive lineman Darius Gray is down to five schools with the LSU Tigers firmly in the mix for the highly-touted prospect.

Gray, the No. 1 interior offensive lineman in America, has narrowed his focus to the LSU Tigers, Tennessee Volunteers, South Carolina Gamecocks, Ohio State Buckeyes and Clemson Tigers.

The 6-foot-3, 285-pounder took multiple official visits this summer with Brian Kelly and the Bayou Bengals landing one of their own as the program intensified its pursuit.

Following a visit to Baton Rouge, the LSU Tigers gained momentum with the predictions rolling in that Kelly and Co. were trending.

On3 Sports' Steve Wiltfong logged a prediction in May in favor of the Tigers securing Gray in the 2026 Recruiting Cycle.

But Gray continued navigating his official visit schedule with trips to the South Carolina Gamecocks, Penn State Nittany Lions and Ohio State Buckeyes, among others, rounding out the docket.

LSU will have to fend off the top schools in America in order to land Gray's services with an impressive final five programs now revealed with South Carolina, Ohio State, Tennessee and Clemson in the race.

Gray caught up with Tennessee Volunteers On SI to evaluate the contenders in his process.

What did the five-star interior offensive lineman have to say about the Tigers?

LSU: “Definitely Coach Davis. Coach Davis is one of the greatest humans that I’ve ever talked to. He gives off a father figure. He hopes the kids grow as men, and that is very important with me coming into college at 18, so to have someone like that to help you develop as an NFL player, but also as a great human being, a great husband, a great father, and that is just something I want.

"LSU kind of speaks for itself. It’s a winning program. They do everything to develop linemen perfectly, so that’s good and they check all the boxes.”

South Carolina: “They have been the longest relationship possible. I think the most important thing to me is how everyone remained the same.

"You know way back, they were a five or six win team and now they are scratching the surface for playoffs and not once did they change anything that they are doing with their culture, so I think that’s been the biggest thing for me and Coach Beamer is an amazing people that you’d want to play for.”

Ohio State: “ A winning program. You can see the reason they have been able to develop linemen. I think it is huge that they got Coach Bowen he was a guy from Virginia Tech, you know we have a great relationship so you can kind of see the way Coach Ryan Day sets up his program and it’s big, and he spoke about it in an interview, you know mental health is important.

"It gets lost in this college football world that these are still kids at the end of the day, so It’s great to have a head coach understand like that, and very vocal about it. The biggest thing is that they develop and win. It’s a big/huge program that everyone loves.”

Tennessee: “Oh, easily it definitely starts with the guys in the O-Line room. Starting with Coach Elarbee. I’d definitely say that’s the main reason for me, and I mean Coach Heup (Josh Heupel), a guy like that running the program, you know, it kind of speaks for itself.

"Tennessee has been building for years, and they are only scratching the surface. They are getting guys like David Sanders and (JB) Shabazz and all of those guys, you can just see they are going to continue the up trend.”

Clemson: “Definitely, I would have to say Coach Sweeney’s longevity there. Him bringing in Coach Luke was a big part in it as well. Coach Sweeney does everything the right way.

"He is going to fight for his players, so that has been a big thing, and Coach Luke is a fantastic human being. Outside of football, he’s an even better coach, so it’s hard to say no to something like that.”

Now, he's set to evaluate his contenders with the LSU Tigers firmly in the mix.

(Quotes via Tennessee Volunteers On SI.)

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Zack Nagy
ZACK NAGY

Zack Nagy is the Managing Editor and Publisher of LSU Country, a Sports Illustrated Publication. Nagy has covered Tiger Football, Basketball, Baseball and Recruiting, looking to keep readers updated on anything and everything involving LSU athletics. 

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