The Early Signing Period has drawn to a close, and all things considering Lane Kiffin’s first cycle at LSU has been a roaring success.
When we last left you Wednesday, the Tigers had 11 players officially send in their paperwork (technically 10 as Richard Anderson’s didn’t officially make it till Thursday) but we were waiting on three more elite defensive line prospects.
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The trio of Lamar Brown, Deuce Geralds, and Trenton Henderson all decided to hold off signing on Wednesday. If you’re a pessimist, maybe you could interpret that as these three young men were waiting to get something more concrete in regards to who will be their defensive coordinator and position coach will be (more on that in a moment). Blake Baker is, after all, being heavily courted by Tulane and the New Orleans area media sure do sound confident that it’s a matter of when, not if, Baker accepts the head coaching job.
Yet despite the uncertainty surrounding Baker’s future, LSU still got all three of Brown, Geralds, and Henderson to sign and send in their paperwork today.
LSU’s four highest ranked commits are all defensive linemen; LSU’s four highest ranked are all top-80 prospects. Lamar Brown (Baton Rouge, U-High) is the No. 1 overall player in the class regardless of position; Richard Anderson (New Orleans, Edna Karr) is the No. 1 overall defensive tackle; Geralds, out of the Atlanta area is the No. 48 overall player and third ranked defensive tackle, while Henderson (Pensacola) is the No. 77 overall player and the No. 12 ranked edge. It’s the best defensive line class in the country, and almost definitely the best class LSU’s ever signed.
So who will be coaching these incoming mega-recruits? Well, it looks like we’re getting some clarity there. Thursday night it was reported by FootballScoop that LSU is targeting Elijah Robinson to be its defensive line coach. If that name sounds familiar it should, Robinson spent six seasons with Texas A&M and when Jimbo Fisher was fired in 2023, Robinson inherited the interim role. From there, he was hired by Fran Brown as Syracuse’s defensive coordinator and has spent this year and last in that role. Robinson was demoted, not fired, from his role and now he is apparently open to returning to the SEC. Robinson was reportedly at the LSU Football ops building today, and if the Tigers were able to sign four top-100 overall prospects all along the defensive line…well that’s probably not a coincidence.
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“But wait, doesn’t LSU already have a defensive line coach?” Yes they do! Kyle Williams is still currently on staff as the defensive line coach, but it sounds like Williams will not be back next season. It’s not because he isn’t being asked back, it sounds like Williams is choosing not to come back of his own volition.
If Williams is indeed tapping out, LSU could do far, far worse than Elijah Robinson. Robinson’s one of the best defensive line coaches and recruiters in the game—remember he was responsible for Dom McKinley and Gabe Reliford to originally commit to Texas A&M—and his run defenses at A&M were consistently among the nation’s elite. In six years at A&M, the Aggies had a top-20 run defense three times (2018, 2020, 2023) and a top-five unit twice (‘18 and ‘20).
Now we just need to figure out who’s actually calling the shots for the defense.
