LSU Football: Tigers commits are doing what coaches can’t do
By Zach Ragan
LSU football’s coaching staff is limited in the contact it can have with current recruits.
LSU football‘s coaching staff can’t currently have face-to-face contact with recruits, due to the ongoing recruiting dead period (thanks to COVID-19), but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some recruiting happening behind the scenes.
Tigers coaches can speak with recruits via video chats and phone calls.
But recruits, of course, want to be able to see LSU and Baton Rouge in person. While we’ve seen recruits at various programs make decisions without ever actually taking a visit, it’s still not something that typically happens.
That’s why this weekend is so huge for the Tigers. With players like five-star defensive end Korey Foreman and five-star defensive tackle Maason Smith on campus, it could end up being the weekend that turns LSU’s defense into one of the most dominant units in the nation.
And the entire weekend is happening not because of the Tigers coaching staff, but because of a player who is already committed to LSU.
The LSU football commit who set up the Tigers’ big recruiting weekend
Foreman, Smith, and other LSU commits/targets are in Baton Rouge this weekend because of four-star quarterback Garrett Nussmeier.
Nussmeier, who committed to the Tigers in early May, set up the weekend so some of LSU’s biggest remaining targets could see Baton Rouge in person.
“I put together this trip to try and get some guys that haven’t seen the campus and some commits that haven’t seen the campus and give them a chance to see what Baton Rouge has to offer,” said Nussmeier to 247Sports.
It’s still a bit too early to know if this weekend will pay dividends for LSU. But either way, it’s a massive opportunity for the Tigers to strengthen their relationship with key recruits — even though the coaches can’t be a part of the visit (at least not face-to-face, I’m sure there have been some video chats).
When LSU chose to take a commitment from Nussmeier while five-star quarterback Caleb Williams was still uncommitted, it was a sign that Ed Orgeron and his staff preferred Nussmeier over Williams.
Next. The area where LSU's 2020 team is better than their 2019 team. dark
Weekends like this are an example of why Nussmeier is a perfect fit for LSU. And he could end up being a big part of the program’s future success before he’s even officially a Tiger.