By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE — In his first two recruiting classes, 29 of LSU head football coach Brian Kelly’s 69 signees were plucked from the transfer portal.
Kelly had no choice. He took over Ed Orgeron’s decimated program that had less than 40 scholarship players.
It’s why Kelly was proud to announce Wednesday on the first day of the Class of 2024 early signing that his third recruiting class features 26 high school signees and a junior college star. Fourteen of those players will enroll at LSU in January.
“You can see the shift in transition towards developing our players and allowing them to grow within our program,” Kelly said. “We had some young players who had to play this year, and there’s some growing pains that come along with that. But I’m committed to that growth and that kind of development. I think in the long run that proves to be the way to championships, continuity and consistencies in your program.”
LSU’s signing class consists of 11 offensive players, 15 on defense and one specialist. The class has 12 players who won a high school state championship, 12 who played on both sides of the ball, and 10 who were invited to play in the All-America All-Star Games.
Also, 23 of the signees are from Louisiana and Texas with the Tigers signing eight of Louisiana’s 10 highest-rated players.
LSU’s north Louisiana signees included Ruston defensive end Ahmad Breaux, Parkway placekicker Aeron Burrell, Natchitoches Central offensive lineman Joseph Cryer, Evangel Christian Academy defensive end Gabriel Reliford and Many inside linebacker Tylen Singleton.
“I believe that there is a loyalty and a sense of growing up in wanting to play for LSU,” Kelly said. “It’s clearly here in the state of Louisiana that young boys grow up to young men that want to play for LSU. I really believe that there’s that passion.”
247Sports composite recruiting rankings (high school and junior college signees only) place LSU at No. 11 nationally and No. 6 in the SEC.
The Tigers’ highest-ranked recruit, according to 247Sports and ESPN, is Zachary High’s tight end Trey’Dez Green. In his last two seasons, the 6-7, 226 pound Green had 98 catches for 1,824 yards and 23 TDs.
“He’s just starting to scratch the surface in terms of what he can do as a football player,” Kelly said of Green. “His jump from last year to this year of understanding the game and coming easy to him was probably as big as anyone that I’ve seen in one year. The things that he did from last year to this year were pretty remarkable.”
LSU’s defensive secondary woes this past season – mostly the result of failed and injured transfer portal signees – were addressed by signing four cornerbacks and two safeties.
One of the cornerbacks is Ju’Juan Johnson of Lafayette Christian Academy, who’s rated as a 4-star prospect and the nation’s No. 9 cornerback prospect in the On3 composite. Johnson is also the most productive high school quarterback in Louisiana prep history with state records of 14,451 total yards and 171 TDs.
“When you watch him play you say `he’s gonna play this position’,” Kelly said. “Then, you watch him play again and you say `Maybe he can play this position.’ Watch him again and you say `No, he can play this position.’
“He can play anywhere. He’s remarkable and he’s been fun to watch. He’s done some things historically that have never been done in the state of Louisiana.”
Another perceived trouble spot for LSU has been its defensive line. The Tigers’ top four defensive tackles – Mehki Wingo, Maason Smith, Jacobian Guillory and Jordan Jefferson – are all draft-eligible.
Kelly signed four high school defensive linemen as well as East Mississippi Community College defensive tackle Shone Washington. The 6-4, 304 pound Washington, a 2022 Georgia signee, was considered one of the best junior college D-line players in the nation.
“With Washington, we satisfied that piece (signing an experienced D-lineman) early on before the transfer portal even got busy,” Kelly said. “So, we used him as kind of the model. Like if somebody is of that caliber of a player or better, maybe we’d be interested.
“And we feel good about retention (of LSU’s current D-tackles). Both of those things factored into where we’re at with the defensive tackle position.”
Three transfer portal players – Mississippi State wide receiver kick returner Zavion Thomas, Texas A&M safety Jardin Gilbert and Vanderbilt quarterback AJ Swann – have previously announced they are transferring to LSU. Kelly is expected to confirm on Friday the Tigers’ transfer portal acquisitions.
Thomas, a 5-11, 190-pound product of Marrero (La.) John Ehret, had 40 catches for 507 yards and 1 TD this past season. In his two years as a return specialist, he returned 22 kickoffs for 297 yards and 1 TD and 29 punts for 365 yards and 1 TD.
The 6-1, 200-pound Gilbert a former Baton Rouge University High star, played in 25 games for Texas A&M over three seasons. He started in 10 games in 2022 and had 61 tackles and 2 interceptions. He missed almost all of this past season after undergoing shoulder surgery early in the year.
In his two seasons as a Commodore, the 6-2, 225-pound Swann had 12 starts and played in 15 games. He started in all six games he played this past season, passing for 1,457 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com