After four years of working and waiting one week wasn’t a problem.
Bo Bordelon arrived at LSU in the summer of 2022. He was classmates with Will Campbell and Emery Jones who are a year deep into their NFL careers. They were both on the field in their second collegiate game, Campbell in his first.
Bordelon waited four years. And one week of spring.
Ole Miss transfer Devin Harper took the first reps at left guard during spring practice. Head coach Lane Kiffin and Offensive Coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. ran the practices. Offensive Line Coaches Eric Wolford and James Cregg looked on.
Bordelon got what he asked for.
“I asked them point blank,” Bordelon said. “I said, ‘look, all I want is a blank slate and a fresh opportunity,’ you know, a chance to really get re-evaluated and show them what I can do. Let them not take whatever went on in the past with me. Just kind of rebuild anew and have a blank slate. That’s all I I really asked for.”
Kiffin has stated numerous times that recruiting stars and past performance don’t guarantee anything under his watch. Bordelon took the left guard spot and never relinquished it. He’s entrenched as the left guard in his fifth and final season as a Tiger.
This is the sixth time Kiffin has taken a head coaching position in a new place. He’s seen it all when it comes to inheriting a program and the players that come with it.
“I think we’ve, for whatever reason, kind of a lot of times in our first year at the places we go have had a story like this,” Kiffin said. “I was thinking about it the other day, and it’s really valuable when there is one where a guy who really hasn’t played as much as they thought or liked and we come in with new eyes and new system and give an opportunity and they rise to the top and especially in the offensive line there seems to be one. So, I really like the story.”
Bordelon has blocked for field goals and changed jersey numbers on the sideline to take the field as an extra tight end and eligible receiver. In the offseason, nine Tiger offensive linemen hit the portal. Bordelon didn’t, and he might be in line for another, more permanent jersey change.
In the scorebook, Bordelon will wear No. 67, but he could be fitted for a No. 18 patch. At SEC Media Days in July, Whit Weeks advocated for Bordelon’s candidacy for the number.
“If they want to give it to me, that’d be unbelievable,” Bordelon said. “But, I mean we got a ton of guys that deserve that honor. I mean Whit’s been here, works as a leader, I could go on and on…I don’t know how they’re going to distribute it out, but that’s not really what I’m focused on right now. But it’d be a big honor.”
Bordelon’s focus is on trying to revitalize a broken offense that has ranked last in the SEC in rushing over the last two seasons. He’s part of a retooled offensive line featuring transfers in Jordan Seaton and Aliou Bah with returning starters Braelin Moore and Westin Davis.
Bordelon is the outlier. Three of the five were transfer starters brought in to do just that. Davis was a five-star recruit and starting player as a redshirt freshman. Bordelon sat for four years. Now, he’s ready.
“I think the I give our strength conditioning coaches a lot of credit,” Bordelon said. “We really pushed ourselves this offseason. Not just in the weight room, but on the field. Our team runs really hard. That’s what we need. I think I just gained some weight and kept working.”
Kiffin hopes Bordelon’s story becomes a motivating factor inside the program. Every winter, football rosters are overhauled in part due to impatient players jumping at the easiest access to the field.
The new Tiger head coach preaches that effective practice performance and a strong work ethic are the tickets to the lineup. Sometimes that can fall on deaf ears.
Not in this case.
“Obviously, hope he plays really well,” Kiffin said. “And then we use that story for years to come. When we sit here in team rooms at the beginning of camp and say, ‘guys, doesn’t matter where you’re on a depth chart, what year you are. If you play really well, your time’s going to come.'”
