(The quotes in this story are from Matt Moscona’s interview with new LSU DL Bernard Gooden on After Further Review)
By Hunt Palmer
Bernard Gooden immediately clicked with Kyle Williams.
In his first spring as a recruiter for his alma mater, Williams is looking to change the mentality of his interior defensive linemen. Gooden already fits that mold.
“I’m very disruptive,” Gooden told Matt Moscona of After Further Review. “I feel like I can do everything from run to pass, and I do it on my own way. Specially my frame, most d-linemen are like 6’5”, 6’6”. I’m like 6’1”, 6’2”, but I kill them with speed, and I feel like I can go longer. I don’t go four quarters. I go overtime, too.”
Williams didn’t have that classic 6-foot-5 frame to work with either. He parlayed his 6-foot-1, 300 lbs. build into a 13-year NFL career that included six Pro Bowls. When Gooden entered the transfer portal after a productive year at South Florida, Williams and LSU reached out quickly to gauge interest.
“I had my eyes on certain schools I wanted, so when LSU hit me it was the perfect fit,” Gooden said. “Really, Coach Kyle, he’s got the same style as me. Knowing what type of career he had, man, his mindset in the D-line room, that matches up with me.”
Gooden was credited with 10 tackles for loss last season with the Bulls.
In three seasons prior to 2024, two at Wake Forest and one at USF, Gooden had only made seven total tackles. His search for playing time was a winding one that started in Winston-Salem.
“Everybody wants to go college, they want to play early,” Gooden said. “I was told I was going to play early, and that was my only Power 5 offer at the time. I just wanted to play on the big stage.”
He didn’t, and he got homesick. So, he jumped in the transfer portal.
“It was being in North Carolina. It was a big thing, especially as a young kid,” Gooden said. “I was just looking to come back home. I was born in Sarasota, Florida.”
So, he found a fresh start at USF and became a starter and standout player.
The December portal period came and went in 2024, and Gooden stayed put. After spring practice ended last month, Gooden was comfortable in Tampa, but his mother saw an opportunity for him and offered guidance.
“My mom was just like, it’s my last year, I just got to answer a lot of unanswered questions,” Gooden said. “I’m undersized. I just feel like I’m going to hit the portal and take my chances. I entered, and LSU hit me. I was like, oh yeah, I already know where I want to go.”
His high school dream of playing on the biggest stage had come true. Gooden was the second-to-last piece to the No. 1 ranked transfer portal class entering the 2025 season.
He figures to earn playing time alongside Jacobian Guillory, Ahmad Breaux, Dominick McKiinley and Sydir Mitchell to form a formidable defensive tackle group for Williams.
Gooden says he’ll arrive in Baton Rouge next week with one real goal in mind.
“Win a championship. I feel like we can do it.”
