By Hunt Palmer
In a state sprinkled with high school football powerhouses, Edna Karr’s recent resume is as good as any.
Brice Brown has led the Cougars to five state titles including the 2024 crown back in December. In the process, he’s churned out elite prospects, many of whom have gone on to play for the home state LSU Tigers one way or another.
Brown spoke with Matt Moscona on After Further Review Monday and praised LSU’s entire coaching staff including head coach Brian Kelly.
“My relationship with him, it’s not just head coach to head coach,” Brown said. “I see Coach Kelly as a good friend. He’s very available. He’s very authentic when you speak to him. Any time you have a question, or if he wants to holler at you about anything, he picks up the phone and gives you a call. We had a champions lunch with all the state championship head coaches last week. He was great. He was open. He was honest. He was straightforward. We got a chance to listen to him at the clinic. He’s always been available to us. He’s visited here whenever he has a chance. Head coaches are restricted in how much they can come out, but when he’s able to come out.”
Kelly’s 2025 Tigers will feature a pair of Edna Karr wide receivers who took the long way home. Aaron Anderson, a former five-star prospect for the Cougars, started his career at Alabama before coming back to LSU. Destyn Hill was a Florida State Seminole but will wear the purple and gold this coming season.
“I think if you go back through the years, we’ve sent a lot of guys to a lot of places,” Brown said. “A lot of those guys come back. They wish they had stayed home. Especially for their families to see them play. That’s something that’s not talked about much in recruiting, having that support system around you. So much is caught on NIL and all of those things, but people matter and relationships matter and family matters still in recruiting. LSU has done a good job of selling that home to all of the players that they’re recruiting and the future players that are committed to them right now on exactly that, being able to stay home, play for your state.”
Anderson led the Tigers in receiving in 2024 after a 2023 season where he watched from the sidelines quite a bit as Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. set records. It’s not often five-star recruits have to wait three years to make an impact, but that was the case with Anderson.
“He’s been very patient,” Brown said. “Coach Saban loved him at Alabama, but he wanted to come closer to home. When Coch Kelly first got the job, they did a god job of following up. It turned over so quick. Relationships mean a lot in this thing, and I thought it was clear cut that he was going to return home. Him being very patient and getting healthy has been very key for him as well.”
Brown expects even more from Anderson in 2025.
“This is the healthiest he’s been,” he said. “He’s looked outstanding at practice. I actually was in Baton Rouge on Saturday watching him get a little bit of extra work. He looked smooth. The offense was very explosive. You’ve got one of the best quarterbacks in the country. (Anderson) is making big plays out there, but him being healthy and patient have been the two keys words for him. He has to keep those two especially with a fully loaded (wide receiver) room. You know, some games it’s going to be this wide out. Some games it’s going to be that wide out. I think the biggest stat is how many wins the Tigers put up, and he’s all on board with trying to compete for a title.”
Hill and Anderson have been seen working with the first team together alongside Chris Hilton. Kentucky transfer Barion Brown has also fit in that mix. Oklahoma transfer Nix Anderson also figures in.
Another Karr Cougar is waiting in the wings.
TaRon Francis, a four-star signee in the 2025 class, has enrolled early and made some noise in his first collegiate spring.
“He’s made some really explosive plays in the practices I’ve been at,” Brown said. “He’s going to be a Tiger that you want to remember his name, because he’s so explosive when you get the ball in his hands. He’s learned from a group of good veteran guys when it comes to moving throughout college, how to prepare, take care of his body, attack the weight room. Not just Aaron or Destyn from Karr, but he’s learning from Barion (Brown) and Zavion (Thomas) and all those guys pour so much into him, Chris (Hilton), we’re very appreciative of the maturation process he’s gone though in three months at LSU.”
Brown enjoys watching his players grow up at the next level, but with that comes the challenge of keeping the Karr program humming with such annual elite departures.
That means the next wave has to show up. His 2025 roster features a pair of Top 10 players Iin the state in defensive tackle Richard Anderson and safety Aiden Hall, both of whom have committed to LSU.
Anderson, a 6-foot-3, 340 lbs. monster of a prospect, initially committed to LSU when Bo Davis was the defensive line coach. Davis took the job with the Saints in March, so LSU tabbed Kyle Williams a week later.
Williams has already made a strong impression on Anderson and Brown.
“I was very impressed with meeting with Kyle for the first time last week,” Brown said. “I went to the practice this past Saturday, and we ran into each other, and we spoke again. He met our defensive line coach and our defensive coordinator. I’ll tell you what. When you talk about knowledge of the game and expressing why you’re doing certain things, he can teach that. And you can see it with the defense at LSU right now. They’re playing more of an attack style and more up the field and not down the line as much. That’s what really caught Richard’s attention is the coaches’ style, the coaches’ technique. It’s not just about the guys behind you and covering up the linebackers so they can make plays. They want the D-line to make plays as well, and that’s been the biggest eye-opener for Richard in his reestablishing that commitment to LSU because the scheme fits him so well, but Kyle has been great.”
Williams has a professional background, playing 13 years with the Buffalo Bills. He’s also got a high school background having coached Ruston High School’s defense the last four years.
Both of those pieces of the resume have been positives in Anderson’s recruitment according to Brown.
“(Williams) knows the situation because he was a high school coach, and when you think about college coaches versus high school coaches, a lot of high school coaches are dealing with a lot of things off the field,” Brown said. “Kyle understands that. He understands where Richard goes, what he says and stuff like that. They hit it off from Day 1. It’s always good having a pro teaching a future pro, and Richard has the upside to that.”
As far as Hall’s recruitment. He’s heard from a number of elite programs from around the country, but has reaffirmed his commitment to LSU.
Brown has enjoyed watching Hall handle it all.
“Aiden has done well at handling the recruiting,” Brown said. “When you have Texas and Florida and Texas A&M and Alabama knocking at your door, it’s always good to go flirt with the neighbor, but when you’ve got something good at home, I think he’s realized that.”
Recruiting in 2025 has been massively impacted by NIL. Brown knows that well. And when you run one of the best high school programs in the country, a lot of schools come looking for prospects.
Brown praised the LSU staff in how they’ve handled themselves with his players both past and present.
“(Kelly’s)staff has done a great job of recruiting both of these guys,” Brown said. “Frank (Wilson) and BK as well, but you know, Blake (Baker) has done a great job making himself available. Talking scheme and talking ball. It’s been refreshing. It’s been different, but I tell you what. It’s not just been about NIL and how much you can give me. It’s all about the scheme and how they can develop these players into the NFL pros that we all think they’re going to be. And I think that’s the biggest thing in recruiting. Not about the dollars that they can give but also the development that they can have. And I think that’s been the biggest part for Richard and Aiden.”
