LSU head football coach Ed Orgeron is about “next.”
The Tigers win the national championship at 15-0.
Next, he immediately dives into recruiting to finish the 2020 class.
Loses defensive coordinator Dave Aranda. Next hires defensive coordinator Bo Pelini.
Signs three more players on the second national signing day Wednesday. Learns he has he nation’s fourth highest rated signing class as figured by 247 Sports.
Next immediately starts targeting the Class of 2021 where it’s deep and talented in Louisiana and Texas, particularly in Houston and Dallas, two of the Tigers’ favorite recruiting haunts.
Hires some offensive analysts but continues the search to fill the passing game coordinator vacancy left by Joe Brady who became offensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers.
“It really hasn’t stopped,” said Orgeron, hustling from Wednesday afternoon’s media conference in the Lawton Room in Tiger Stadium.
LSU’s 2020 signing class has 22 signees including six defensive linemen as the Tigers convert from previous defensive coordinator Dave Aranda’s 3-4 base alignment to new D-coordinator Bo Pelini’s favored 4-3.
The three signees on Wednesday were:
WR Alex Adams, 6-1, 190, Osyka (Miss.) South Pike: Was ranked a four-star prospect by 247Sports. In his two seasons, he had 62 catches for 1,550 yards and 23 TDs, and also ran for 319 yards and four TDs.
“He ran a 4.45 hand-timed 40 in our camp,” Orgeron said.
RB Tre Bradford, 6-0, 195, Lancaster (Texas) High: Four-star running back and top 25 prospect in Texas, who was rated as the nation’s 13th. RB by 247Sports. Had more than 3,000 yards rushing in in three-year career, including 1,563 yards and 23 touchdowns on 9.2 yards per carry as a senior.
“He’s 10.4 in the 100 meters, 47.0 in the quarter, catches the ball well, has great size and is going to be a very good player,” Orgeron said.
CB Dwight McGlothern, 6-2, 185, Houston (Texas) Klein Oak High: Ranked by the 247Sports as the No. 19 cornerback prospect in the 2020 class and a Top 300 overall prospect. Playing both ways, McGlothern totaled 15 interceptions across his high school career and finished with 2,593 receiving yards and 34 touchdowns.
“(Cornerbacks coach) Corey Raymond did another outstanding job (in recruiting McGlothern),” Orgeron said. “He’s a long corner, very fast and fits in our system.”
The Tigers have three remaining scholarships. Orgeron said he’s holding them for transfers or graduate transfers for needed positions.
“We’re always looking for offensive linemen, if there’s a center out there available we’d take a look, maybe a linebacker,” Orgeron said
Though Orgeron calls his fourth Tigers’ recruiting class “the best we’ve had since I was at LSU,” he remains skeptical of recruiting ratings and rankings.
“Two years ago we were ranked 15th and we signed a Heisman Trophy winner (Joe Burrow) and (record-setting placekicker) Cole Tracy,” Orgeron said. “Our (No. 4) ranking looks good, but after about two days that stuff goes out the window.”
Here what Orgeron said about other subjects:
On quarterback Myles Brennan heading into spring No. 1 on the depth chart: “We’re excited about Myles. I’ve always thought that Myles is going to be an excellent quarterback. We want Myles to be the best Myles Brennan. I don’t think it’s fair to compare him with (departed Heisman Trophy winning QB) Joe (Burrow). If he’s at his best, we feel he can be excellent. We’re going to look at our quarterbacks this spring, we’re going to see what they do, we’re going to give them a chance to compete and see what they’ve got.”
His hire of Bo Pelini: “I’ve known Bo through Coach (Pete) Carroll. I respect Coach Carroll, who thinks Bo is the brightest defensive mind he has ever been around. Bo used to come visit us at USC. When Dave (Aranda) was being mentioned for (head coaching) jobs, Bo is the first name I came up with. I’ve always wanted to coach with him. The year I was off, I went to speak at a clinic in Nebraska and he and I got along well. I watched the way he coached. I said, `You know what? This is the type coach I like being around.’
“(LSU trainer) Jack Marucci is a confidant of mine. I asked Jack a lot of questions and he said Bo’s one of the best defensive coordinators he’s been around at LSU. Bo left here with a great mark. The players loved him. He’s a 4-3 guy, that’s my background. I thought it was time for us to shift maybe to the 4-3, more of an attack defense. He’s already made an impact. His first meeting with the players was yesterday. It was phenomenal. He set the tempo. He does a great job of taking control of the defensive meetings. He has an open mind on personnel. He’s going to put us in the best position to attack. I expect to see more sacks, more tackles for loss because of his defense.”
His progress in hiring a Joe Brady replacement: “We’ve interviewed one guy and we’re going to interview several guys next week. I don’t need to make a decision until before spring ball. I want to see who’s out there. I want to do a great job of bringing the best I can to LSU.”
On the offensive analysts he’s hired recently having pass-game heavy backgrounds: “We’ve brought Carter (Sheridan) in here from the Saints, we’ve brought the Cleveland Browns (Tyler Tettelton) in here we want different ideas and we brought Samford (Russ Callaway) in here we want different ideas. We want to marry those ideas and grow into a really prolific offense. The guy that comes in (as passing game coordinator) whoever we hire is going to have to know our system very well or teach us something different. We’re trying to grow, it was our first year in the spread offense and we are also trying to retain the knowledge we learned from Joe, the knowledge that we learned from the Saints.”
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