By Hunt Palmer
Kyle Williams begins his LSU coaching tenure
This isn’t Kyle Williams‘s first spring on the LSU practice field. It’s just the first one with a whistle around his neck instead of a set of shoulder pads.
The former all-American and national champion began his coaching tenure at his alma mater this week.
After a handful of workouts, Head Coach Brian Kelly is impressed with his newest hire.
“He certainly brings an impressive resume to the position,” Kelly said. “I think the thing that stands out ot me is his attention to the finer points of playing the position. Somebody that played the position and recently played the position and clearly understands the nuances of the position and can communicate that and articulate that effectively to those who are going to go play it now at LSU, I think that that connection is very apparent to me.”
Kelly spent the first 20 minutes of practice on Wednesday observing the defensive tackle group under Williams’s direction. The players were working on run defense and ball pursuit.
“I got a chance to spend a little time out there today, probably about 10-15 minutes just listening to him,” Kelly said. “And the way that he connects with the players I know he’s going to make a great impact for us.”
Kelly has not been able to keep a defensive line coach for more than a season to this point in his time at LSU. Over three seasons, he’s hired or promoted six defensive line coaches. He believes Williams is the hire that will stick.
“We certainly feel that we have a group that there’s going to be some continuity at the position,” Kelly said. “When we looked at the candidates, it wasn’t, ‘hey’ you’ve got to stay here 10 years,’ but we had that as a part of our process. We were looking for some continuity at the position, and Kyle was looking to settle in. and so that was an attractive match for us.”
Boys of Summer
What an opportunity pic.twitter.com/E98JHy2yfs
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Veteran defenders Whit Weeks, Harold Perkins, and Jacobian Guillory were not at practice on Wednesday. That is expected throughout the spring. All three suffered injuries at different parts of the season.
Guillory suffered an Achilles tear in Week 2 of the season. Perkins tore his ACL in late September. Weeks broke his leg fibula in the bowl game.
Perkins and Weeks are expected to be mainstays on the second level of the LSU defense and are on track to be ready.
“They’re both moving around,” Kelly said. “They’re both very active in our progression of their rehab. They’re both going to be ready for our June training and fully cleared. That gives them the whole month of June and July prior to coming into camp, so they’ll have no restrictions coming into camp.”
Guillory, who is entering his sixth year with the program, was primed for a big 2024 season before it was cut short. The 6-foot-2, 320 lbs., defensive tackle could have entered the NFL Draft but decided to come back for one more run.
Rehabilitation of the lower extremities on over 300 lbs. can be tough.
“Guillory’s making good progress probably the last two or three weeks,” Kelly said. “He was probably a little bit behind, but he’s made some really good progress. He’ll be in a position to be fully cleared, too, for June, and I think that’s what we’re looking at with the injuries that we have….our athletic development and training team will have eight weeks to get them ready for camp.”
