Lane Kiffin stepped to the microphone as LSU’s new football coach on Dec. 1.
He had four days to keep what was left of the freshman signing class together. That included a pair of Louisiana five stars who embodied the type of player he ultimately left Ole Miss to attract.
Lamar Brown visited Kiffin hours after the coach landed in Baton Rouge. Richard Anderson showed up the next day. Kiffin probably hadn’t unpacked a suitcase, but he was already busy recruiting. Eight months later, Anderson, Brown and Deuce Geralds, another blue-chip defensive line prospect in the class, are repping up front with the first and second team defense.
Kiffin and long-time friend Ed Orgeron have coached for more than six decades combined. This group of first-year defensive linemen could be as good as any they’ve seen.
“I talked to Ed about that,” Kiffin said. “I was kind of thinking all the places over the years we’ve been and even when we’ve been together or separate and neither of us has had that.”
Geralds has held a starting spot since the middle of spring ball. Anderson was repping with the ones during the second fall camp practice. Brown, who did not enroll for spring practice, is working with the second unit at defensive end. Veteran Gabriel Reliford is going to miss the season at end, and Damien Shanklin is not practicing with the program right now. Snaps at defensive end are available.
LSU brought in six defensive line transfers to fortify the position. That’s not uncommon at all in this era. What is rare is a freshman class pushing that group for reps in early August.
“All of them have a chance to play,” Kiffin said. “Those three specifically are playing a lot, and it’s really exciting. In an age that a lot of people play older portal players, it’s kind of lost a little bit of significance, freshman playing, because there’s challenges with playing them. They make more mistakes…So, it’s really awesome situation to be in.”
The Tigers will put on full pads for the first time on Tuesday. The stretch of 10 days to come will be telling for the offensive and defensive lines as the physicality ramps up. Fifth-year senior center Braelin Moore has seen just about everything over his time at Virginia Tech and LSU.
Consider him impressed with the Tiger freshmen.
“Man, those guys are going to be crazy talented,” Moore said. “Their future is so bright. I’ve played in the ACC, played against good Clemson teams, played in the SEC. Those freshmen are developed more than some of the players I played in their fourth year.”
Geralds comes from a football family. His father, Daverin, played on both lines of scrimmage at Ole Miss. Anderson played for Edna Karr, perhaps the best high school program in Louisiana over the last decade. Brown hails from University Lab on LSU’s campus where they’ve been a fixture in the Superdome playing for and winning state titles.
The trio has been well coached and is as ready as a freshman defensive line class can be to enter a level filled with 22-year-old men in the trenches.
“Deuce is an extremely talented pass rusher,” Moore said. “His bag is endless. And then when it comes to Rich, he is a powerful dude, can eat up double teams, just cause chaos in the backfield. And then Lamar’s kind of a switch up. He’s an edge rusher, but he could also move into three technique. He has that power. He could work finesse, and he could just go right through you. That group is set for the next couple years for sure.”
