Death Valley Voice
Fansided

Reviewing how each of LSU's positional Coaches faired on the recruiting trail

By Nicholas Rome

Sep 3, 2011; Arlington, TX, USA; LSU Tigers running backs coach Frank Wilson (left) signals from the sidelines with head coach Les Miles against the Oregon Ducks at Cowboys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images
Sep 3, 2011; Arlington, TX, USA; LSU Tigers running backs coach Frank Wilson (left) signals from the sidelines with head coach Les Miles against the Oregon Ducks at Cowboys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images / Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images
facebooktwitterreddit

The LSU Football team has officially signed all of its committed recruits meaning that the 2025 recruiting cycle is likely now in the rearview mirror. The Tigers ended up signing 23 recruits which is a sizeable recruiting class and continues to build a solid base for the future. Anytime you land a top ten class Nationally like LSU its hard to take issues with the class but, in LSU's class, it is interesting to take a look at how each positional coach faired in this cycle.

Quarterbacks - Joe Sloan

  • Commits landed: None
  • Commits lost: Five-Star Bryce Underwood to Michigan.

Joe Sloan goes through the Early Signing Portion of the recruiting cycle without landing a quarterback after Bryce Underwood to Michigan. There isn't much that Sloan could've done to keep Underwood on board so its hard to criticize his job this cycle. It's now interesting to see if Sloan looks to the transfer portal or the 2026 recruiting class to land the heir to Garrett Nussmeier.

Running Backs - Frank Wilson

  • Commits Landed: Five-Star Harlem Berry and Four-Star JT Lindsey
  • Commits Lost: None

Anytime you can land a commitment from the Nation's Top Player at the position you coach it's a massive win. Frank Wilson comes away from this recruiting cycle with the Nation's Top Running Back and another elite recruit in JT Lindsey. Wilson adds two highly explosive running backs to a room that already has Caden Durham making this a home run cycle for Wilson.

Wide Receivers - Cortez Hankton

  • Commits Landed: Four-Star TaRon Francis and Four-Star Phillip Wright
  • Commits Lost: Five-Star Dakorien Moore to Oregon and Four-Star Derek Meadows to Alabama

Grading how Cortez Hankton did on the recruiting trail is the toughest of any coach on the staff. LSU was in the running and held commits from some of the top wide receivers in the class but, never could hang on which may be more of an indictment on the NIL resources rather than his performance. With that said, it's hard to believe that LSU landed just two wide receivers in this cycle and none of the top receivers just a season removed from sending Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr to the NFL in the first round.

Tight Ends - Slade Nagle

  • Commits Landed: Four-Star JD LaFleur
  • Commits Lost: Three-Star Mike Tyler to South Carolina

While Slade Nagle is leaving for Houston his recruitment this cycle still needs to be evaluated. While Nagle brought in a four-star recruit in LaFleur, he's an easy sell based on his fathers career at LSU. Nagle also lost his other recruit Mike Tyler on National Signing Day to South Carolina which makes the next coaches job much harder as they'll need to look into the transfer portal for a tight end.

Offensive Line - Brad Davis

  • Commits landed: Five-Star Solomon Thomas, Four-Star Carius Curne, Four-Star Tyler Miller, and Three-Star Brett Bordelon.
  • Commits Lost: Four-Star Devin Harper to Ole Miss

Thanks to a last second flip of Solomon Thomas, Brad Davis leaves this recruiting cycle one of the biggest winners. Davis lands two offensive linemen that will have a great shot at starting in year one in Carius Curne and Solomon Thomas while Harper could get to that point as well. Leaving this class with four signees is massive as LSU will likely lose four starting offensive linemen to the NFL.

Defensive Line - Bo Davis

  • Commits Landed: Four-Star Zion Williams, three-star Dilan Battle, three-star Brandon Brown, and three-star Walter Mathis.
  • Commits Lost: None

After LSU searched the transfer portal the entire offseason for starting caliber defensive linemen, Bo Davis ensured that LSU shouldn't need to do that for awhile. Davis brings four players to Baton Rouge and given that he's one of the best talent developers in College Football, the stars of his players truly don't matter as long as he helps improve their play year over year. While Davis didn't land any massive names, he landed a solid class of high upside players that he could develop and turn into the next superstars.

Edge Rushers - Kevin Peoples

  • Commits Landed: Four-Star Edge Rusher Damien Shanklin
  • Commits Lost: Four-Star Jesse Harrold to TBD

The Tigers final tally on the recruiting trail is one signee at edge rusher which is below what LSU will lose with Sai'vion Jones, Bradyn Swinson, and Da'Shawn Womack. It's an underwhelming total caused by losing Jesse Harrold to the transfer portal but, LSU can fix the issue by adding some younger edge rushers in the transfer portal.

Linebackers - Blake Baker

  • Commits Landed: Four-Star Charles Ross, Four-Star Jaiden Braker, Four-Star Zach Weeks, and Four-Star Keylan Moses.
  • Commits Lost: None

In his first recruiting cycle as LSU's Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers coach Blake Baker went out and got a loaded class of guys that fit his system. Baker landed four athletic linebackers that can become the future of the defense. All four will get to learn behind Whit Weeks who has exploded under Baker's system and could start as soon as 2026.

Cornerbacks - Corey Raymond

  • Commits Landed: Five-Star DJ Pickett and Four-Star Aidan Anding
  • Commits Lost: Five-Star Kade Phillips to Texas and Four-Star Jaboree Antoine to Miami

Corey Raymond's first recruiting cycle back in Baton Rouge showed exactly why he belongs in Baton Rouge. Raymond went out and landed the Nation's top cornerback and the top cornerback in Lousiana. This summer Raymond did lose Jaboree Antoine to Miami but, he instantly replaced him with Aidan Anding. Raymond likely would've landed another five-star in Kade Phillips if LSU could've beaten Texas' NIL offer but, we'll continue to see LSU at the top of recruitments for defensive backs as long as Raymond continues to Coach players like he did Zy Alexander raising his draft stock.

Safeties -Jake Olsen

  • Commits Landed: Four-Star CJ Jimcoily, Four-Star Jacob Bradford, and Four-Star Jhase Thomas
  • Commits Lost: None

Overall, it was a pretty solid recruiting class for safeties coach Jake Olsen as he landed three commits to replace the three outgoing safeties. Olsen nabbed two In-State players at safety and one out of state in Jimcoily who could also play linebacker at some point. All three players have great athletic ability and it'll be fun to follow how these three develop.

Home/LSU Football Recruiting