By Hunt Palmer
LSU attacked the transfer portal in December.
Head coach Brian Kelly and his staff scoured the country looking for difference makers to impact a playoff push. Three of those additions came at defensive end–Florida’s Jack Pyburn, Florida State’s Patrick Payton and Nebraska’s Jimari Butler.
The new faces jarred freshman edge rusher Gabriel Reliford.
“Just like anybody else, I was thinking, ‘dang, are they trying to replace me?’” Reliford said. “I talked to my coaches about it. They just straight up told me, it builds competition. It makes you better as a player. I’m not going to back down from it. They came in, and it’s obviously pushed me to work even harder.”
Reliford has worked with the first and second teams this fall. He’s also been observing his new teammates.
“It’s been good just having a lot of vets in the room,” Reliford said. “Jack, everyone knows he stops the run. So, I’ve been taking elements of his game stopping the run and see how he does things. I watch Pat. Pat, he’s a great pass rusher. So, I take elements from Pat. Jimari, he’s an all-around player. He can stop the run, pass rusher. So, I’ve just been taking bits of pieces and making it my own.”
In 2024, Sai’vion Jones and Bradyn Swinson enjoyed career seasons on the edge for the Tigers defense. Swinson tallied 8.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss. Jones added 4.5 sacks and more than doubled his tackles for loss from 2023.
Their strong play made it difficult for Reliford to get to the field in his first season.
“I’m thankful that I was able to have the opportunity to play any snaps, although there weren’t many,” Reliford said. “I got in. I told my coaches, I feel like I made every rookie mistake. Now it’s just about execution each and every play. That’s been my turning point this spring.”
The Shreveport product played in 13 games and made 10 stops as a freshman. He added weight in the spring but feels physically better than ever.
“I feel a lot better, especially with my body composition,” Reliford said. “Although I’ve gained weight, I’m a lot leaner, and I’m a lot faster which is very good for me. One of my main things that I wanted to work on leading up to this spring was my lower body flexibility—my hips, my ankles, just being able to get in better positions, have more power. That’s still my focus going into this offseason, I feel like that’s helped me a lot.”
The fight for playing time will be fierce in 2025. Pyburn has a 60-tackle season to his name at Florida. Payton racked up 16 sacks at Florida State. Butler led Nebraska in tackles for loss and sacks in 2023.
Players generally don’t transfer to sit. Reliford doesn’t expect to sit, either.
“They only replace you if you let them,” Reliford said. “So, you’ve just got to go out there and show that you’re the better man.”
