Ed Orgeron knows the kind of relationship he has with the recruits out of the 2021 and 2022 class. It’s why through the 2-3 start and all of the struggles that this 2020 season has brought with it, Orgeron has repeatedly reiterated that he thinks LSU is building a top notch program that will be a consistent winner for years to come.
“Those guys still remember that championship team,” Orgeron said of the mindset of recruits. “They still remember a lot of things. This is LSU. The guys that want to come here, see an opportunity to play. They watch it on tape, say you know what, I can go and help my team. They still love the Tigers. We’ve had relationships with these guys for two years. I don’t think this is going to affect it much. It may affect a couple guys.”
Those confident remarks aren’t plucked out of thin air and have only proven to be truer by the day. Just two weeks ago the program’s total number of commitments in the 2021 class had stalled at 18 with high school seasons across the country starting up. But in the span of the last two weeks, LSU has landed commitments from receiver Jack Bech and safeties Matthew Langlois, Sage Ryan and Derrick Davis Jr.
The program is now up to 22 total commitments in the class and could potentially be forced into playing a numbers game depending on which other top ranked recruits want to come to Baton Rouge. LSU is firmly in the mix for receiver Brian Thomas, offensive tackle Tristan Leigh and defensive linemen Maason Smith and Korey Foreman.
Let’s pretend for a second that all four want to sign with LSU. That would put them over the limit of 25 which would mean the program would have to turn away one of them, which is not likely or cut ties with another recruit that’s already committed.
And that’s not to mention the four scholarships that the Tigers must take away due to the self imposed penalties the athletic department implemented as a result of the investigation by the NCAA into various violations by the football program.
“LSU has worked proactively and in cooperation with the NCAA to identify and self-report any violations that occurred within our football program,” Robert Munson, LSU Senior Associate Athletic Director, said in a statement to SI. “We believe these self-imposed penalties are appropriate and we will continue to coordinate and cooperate with the NCAA on this matter.”
Will the reduction of the four scholarships come out of this recruiting class or out of players currently on the roster? These are questions that will need to be answered soon because this class looks like it’s rounding into one of the best in recent memory.
