The recruiting challenge that LSU football now faces
By Zach Ragan
LSU football is the hottest program in the nation in 2020.
Nearly every top recruit in the nation has LSU football among their top schools.
That’s because there’s not a hotter program on the planet right now than LSU.
The Tigers are absolutely rolling under head coach Ed Orgeron.
LSU’s 2019 team will likely go down as the greatest college football team of all time.
As a result, there’s a lot of talented players that want to head to Baton Rouge to spend their college careers. Not only do they stand a great chance of winning a national championship at LSU, it’s also the program that’s most likely to get them to the NFL (14 former Tigers were selected in the 2020 NFL Draft…..numbers don’t lie).
The influx of talent wanting to join LSU has resulted in the Tigers changing their recruiting approach a bit.
LSU is in a rare position where they can pick and choose (to some extent) who they want among elite recruits.
That means that top rated players have to sell themselves to LSU. It’s not just the Tigers trying to sell the program to top rated recruits.
Tigers head athletic trainer Jack Marruci spoke to WAFB’s Jacques Doucet about that approach this week.
"I think we can be selective now in who we pick."#LSU head of athletic training Jack Marucci says the Tigers are rolling on the recruiting trail and have reached a sweet spot now that the brand name is hotter than ever.
— Jacques Doucet (@JacquesDoucet) May 12, 2020
"They better recruit us a little bit too." pic.twitter.com/qwXQAkkYOo
When you have the kind of season that LSU had, this is what happens. And it doesn’t necessarily make recruiting easier for Coach O and his staff. That’s because it means they have to make some tough decisions.
There are only so many spots available, which means some really good players have to get turned away. That’s where proper evaluations come into play. LSU doesn’t want to turn away a four-star that ends up being an All-SEC player. They also don’t want to turn away a lower rated four-star player and ruin a relationship at a program that might have a lot of future stud players.
LSU might have the crown right now, but that doesn’t mean life is easy.
Don’t get me wrong, life is good for the Tigers. But this program is far from on auto-pilot.
Of course, that’s the main reason I think we’ll see LSU continue to be a fixture in the College Football Playoff.
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Orgeron is a tireless worker who is always trying to get better. He’s never satisfied. And that’s a good thing.