By RYNE BERTHELOT, Journal Sports

BATON ROUGE — Charles Turner has spent a lot of time on LSU’s sideline.

He came to Baton Rouge as a 245-pound, three-star recruit, too undersized to find a home immediately along the Tigers’ offensive line. He’s bided his time, filling in as a stopgap option all across the line in his first three seasons.

While trying to find a spot, he almost never has been a starter: There was a 58-play stint against Missouri in 2020 where Turner took over for Cam Wire at guard, after Wire left the game with an injury. There was a start at right tackle against McNeese in 2021, but he spent most of the season backing up Liam Shanahan at center.

In 2022, amidst the chaos of an ever-changing offensive line that seems to have a new face every week, Turner’s earned the last two starts at center, while incumbent Garrett Dellinger moved to right guard (before breaking his hand against New Mexico).

It was Turner’s first start at his natural position, an accomplishment that the two true freshmen tackles he shares the line with earned in their first three games. 

It’s taken Turner until his fourth season.

“It kind of put everything in a full perspective for me,” Turner said. “I’ve been here three years, it’s my fourth year now. I just think it spoke volumes about me and my work ethic. I came in here at 245 pounds. I’m 295 now. You don’t see guys gaining that much weight and looking the way that I look. You rarely see that. For me, I think it was partly my work ethic and staying consistent. Mentally, consistency is the best thing for a center.”

Even with the 50 pounds of muscle he put on, Turner’s frame is still slight compared to his other teammates. That hasn’t stopped him from becoming LSU’s most versatile offensive lineman, capable of playing all five spots along the line. His role at center focuses more on his mental strengths while hiding his physical limitations, something that Kelly pointed out in his press conference Monday, though he admitted that Turner’s spot on the line is still up for grabs in practice each week.

Turner has served as one of the elder statesmen for a relatively young offensive line: Freshmen Jones and Campbell have settled in as the right and left tackles, while Dellinger, a sophomore, and redshirt sophomore Miles Frazier filled in at guard. That’s been the most consistent iteration of the Tigers’ offensive line, though Dellinger will miss at least one game due to his broken hand.

Turner’s presence has been valuable, said his coach.

“First of all, he’s a great communicator,” Kelly said. “He knows what he’s doing up front, getting people in the right place. It’s going to get harder, it’s going to get harder. The competition is going to be that he’s going to be in the mix every week. He knows, and he’s up for the challenge.

“I think we’re putting him in a situation where he’s got two guards next to him that are big guys, big physical guys. The center’s always working in combinations. Most centers today are not the biggest, they’re usually the smartest and they’re usually guys that can move. Charles can do that for us.”

In some cases Turner may be too effective of a communicator. When he was thrust into the starting role against Mississippi State, Turner spent a lot of the game trying to identify the JACK linebacker in the Bulldogs’ 3-3-5 defense.

“I was maybe trying to communicate too much,” Turner said. “Sometimes I do have to trust the guys in there with me that they’ll be able to pick up everything without a call. The clock’s running down, so I may not be able to get a call out, and I’ve just got to go. That’ll get cleaned up. That’s on me. I just have to trust my teammates better.”

The continuity that Kelly’s searched for along the offensive line has finally started to come to fruition. There are common bonds growing among the unit, especially around the table: Dinners at Sushi Masa, breakfasts at Another Broken Egg, and lunches at Roul’s Deli have become important exercises in chemistry building.

Coming from the sideline, that continuity looks a little different to Turner.

“My thing about continuity is, I think that, no matter who’s in there, we should all be able to play well together,” Turner said. “Continuity then comes from us just being around each other in the meeting rooms or even outside of football.”

There’s no telling how long Turner will keep his starting spot.

There’s no denying he’s earned it.

Contact Ryne at rgberthelot@gmail.com