LSU Football: The Tigers’ secret recruiting weapon
By Zach Ragan
LSU football has one of the best recruiting weapons in the SEC.
LSU football head coach Ed Orgeron is one of the best recruiters in the nation. He always has been.
But head coaches alone don’t sign elite recruiting classes. It requires coaches who work well together, but are also able to go one-on-one with a recruit and close the deal.
The Tigers obviously have several of those coaches who fit the bill, which is why LSU currently has the nation’s No. 5 recruiting class (with the potential to finish possibly at No. 1).
But there’s one assistant, specifically, who appears to be somewhat of a “secret weapon” for the Tigers.
Running backs coach Kevin Faulk.
The former LSU football running back is a big part of Tigers’ recruiting success
When running backs coach Tommie Robinson left LSU earlier this year to join Jimbo Fisher’s staff at Texas A&M, there was no question that Coach O was going to promote Faulk from director of player development to an on-field role as the Tigers’ new running backs coach.
“Kevin is a great teacher and mentor and someone that has earned the respect and love of our players…This is a home run hire,” said Orgeron in a statement announcing Faulk’s promotion in February.
One of the reasons that Coach O was so excited to promote Faulk was because of recruiting.
The former LSU running back has proved to be elite when it comes to building relationships. That’s something that was evident in the recruitment of four-star running back Corey Kiner, the No. 7 rated player in the state of Ohio.
Kiner, who committed to LSU in May, was expected to land at a Big 10 school, but the Tigers were able to land the talented running back because of Faulk.
“Honestly, if there was a different coach I don’t know if he would have committed or not. That speaks volumes to Coach Faulk,” said Solomon Trentman, Kiner’s high school defensive coordinator/strength coach (via The Athletic).
LSU already recruits extremely well. If Faulk is going to be able to routinely steal top players from states outside of LSU’s immediate geographic area, then there’s going to be a lot of not-fun years on the horizon for the rest of the SEC West.
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The Tigers are a wrecking ball right now. They destroyed the competition in 2019 and it looks like that’s going to remain their mission for the foreseeable future.