LSU coach Ed Orgeron was asked three times in his weekly Tuesday spring practice Zoom media teleconference about allegations by 74-year Gloria Scott that Orgeron lied to Husch Blackwell investigators when he said he wasn’t sure he talked to Scott in December 2017 about Scott being sexually harassed by then-Tigers’ running Derrius Guice.
He was specifically asked if he wished he would have done anything differently in handling Guice and was asked if he has been asked to appear before a state legislative committee to testify on the matter.
His stock answer to both specific questions:
“I said what I had to say this morning and leave the rest up to the investigation and fully cooperate with the investigation.”
Orgeron did also repeat what he said earlier Tuesday in his weekly radio appearance 104.5 ESPN’s “Off The Bench.”
“First of all, what I saw on the video was 100 percent unacceptable,” said Orgeron of Scott’s tearful testimony last Friday at a state Senate Select Committee on Women and Children on Friday. “Just made me sick to see it. I’m very, very sorry for Mrs. Scott and her family.”
Orgeron was 35 minutes late for his Tuesday Zoom teleconference. It lasted 10 minutes and quickly ended after the last of three questions about the Guice/Scott incident.
On football-related matters, here’s what Orgeron had to say:
On developing offensive line depth with the starting lineup of returning veterans set
“We’ve got to accelerate the development of our second team. We can’t just sit there. There’s a gap. They are good players, but they are not ready to go. We can’t be satisfied that we have these guys (the starters) on the front line and just take our time. I want those guys to act like they have to start. We know they are one play away. They’re not ready. . .I want to pick up the pace on their development. I want a sense of urgency. I want them to be ready. I want them to get in there and get some first-team snaps. I want them to prove to me if the guy in front of them goes down (with injury) that they are ready to play. As we know, it (an injury) is going to happen.”
On true freshman defensive lineman Maason Smith
“He’s our best rusher outside right now after five or six days of spring. So, there’s no question that he’s going to play and play a lot. He can push for a starting position. He is a very athletic big man. He practices very hard. He’s got to a stay a little bit lower on the run, he’s excellent in his pass rush. He’s a very smart young man. He’s going to be one of the top freshmen on our team.”
On what happened in Saturday’s scrimmage
“Our defense played well. They had a good day tackling, we only had 10 missed tackles and we didn’t have that many explosive plays. We didn’t have many running backs available. Max (Johnson) and Myles (Brennan) had their best days at quarterback, that’s been see-sawing the whole time.
“I was very impressed with the play of our corners and our safeties. (Safety) Jay Ward played very well. (Linebacker) Damone Clark had a good game. Bug Strong (linebacker) was all over the place).”
On wide receiver Alex Adams being moved to safety
“Alex played both ways in Mississippi when we recruited him, a hard-hitter who played safety, corner and nickel. We knew we needed some help at safety, so we wanted to move him back there in the spring. It’s a good time to take a look at it.”
On re-visiting the possibility of cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. also playing on offense
“I talked to his Dad and I talked to him. We have a new defense coming in. I want him to learn the defense this spring. Obviously, it’s a lot of the same thing for the corners. You’re either in press man or in zone. But he wanted to be able to master the defense before we even think about moving him to offense. That’s something we’ll discuss this summer before camp.”
On the offensive line playing better because it has returned the 2019 offense of getting the ball out of the quarterback’s hand quickly
“Getting in the empty package and getting rid of the ball quick does help those guys. That’s all part of it.”
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