re: Are you concerned about LSU's staff from a recruiting standpoint?

LSU's staff got old very quickly.


With guys like Bill Johnson, Linehan, and Faulk who haven't recruited in decades, if at all, in Faulk's case.


I feel like they've traded in the hungry up and coming coaches and made them analysts instead of lower tier position coaches.

I also feel like the long season maybe had something to do with it. Just very uninspiring all the way around.

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TigerLaw40

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We all know that recruiting is the lifeblood of any elite program; but do we have the staff in place to continue that momentum going. Here is my amateur breakdown of the staff in tiers

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Was Aranda considered a great recruiter, not critical but I did not hear he was one of our ace recruiters. Brady was not around long enough to be considered a lead recruiter.

Good thoughts but I am not sure we are falling behind in recruiting with this staff

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Yet we traded 56 year old Robinson for 44 year old Faulk.

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PCG Joe Brady 29 ---> Scott Linehan 56
DC Dave Aranda 43---->Bo Pelini 52
DL Meatball 31 -----> Bill Johnson 64
TE John Decoster 31

James Cregg 46
Corey Raymond 50
Mickey Joseph 51
Bill Busch 55
Greg McMahon 60



Dude, that is an old arse staff

I never said old coaches cant recruit.

But do you think it is coincidental that all good staffs have a nice mix?

Do you think 17year olds are dying to connect with 64 year old Bill Johnson?


Relying on NFL coaches who have been coaching professionally for decades, and guys who have never recruited before doesn't exactly inspire confidence.



It has to be exhausting to always be an apologist.

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45-55 in my opinion is prime coaching years at the top levels.

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If this is the case refer to my above comment and you’ll see that our staff is at the end of their prime.

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If this is the case refer to my above comment and you’ll see that our staff is at the end of their prime.

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Saban began coaching in 1975 and didn't become a recognized elite coach until 2003 when he won a Natty at LSU at age 51. 4 of his 6 NCs have been since he turned 60. Pete Jenkins was an elite DL coach well into his 60's and Bill Johnson coached Aaron Donald to his best season (20.5 sacks) in 2018 at the age of 62.

Some guys don't have the drive to deal with the grind later in life, but some do and their wealth of experience is invaluable.

The overall intent of the OP and question was not to compare the staff to previous staffs and ask if we are better or worse comparatively. The question was (or there about) as we stand now, do you see this as a staff well composed enough to continue recruiting elite classes. That's it. That simple question. What came after it was just my amateur analysis of where I see the coaches sitting as a recruiter in an arbitrary tier method. But since you asked, I'll try to answer as best I can.

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Was Aranda considered a great recruiter, not critical but I did not hear he was one of our ace recruiters.

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I would agree with you that no one was calling him one of our "ace" recruiters. However, based on players he brought in and statements made by recruiting service writers, I would say he was at least squarely in tier 2 of the staff. Part of the issue is the same as with Ensminger, in that O has chosen with his coordinators to significantly narrow the scope of their recruiting responsibilities in order to allow them to stay in the office more to work with the analysts on scheme, as well as practice and game planning. But people like Shea have said that once Aranda identified a LB that he wanted, he generally got him and that he was actually a great closer once he got in the room.

As for Pelini, maybe he brings the same level of ability as Aranda. I honestly don't know. But based on what people have said from his first go round, it doesn't seem that recruiting will be much of a priority of his at all.

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Brady was not around long enough to be considered a lead recruiter.

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True. But as I've stated a couple times now, I believe Brady possessed the personality and skill-set to be a great recruiter. And regardless of whether he liked doing it or not, he strikes me as the type of person that if it was his job to do it, then he was going to try and be the best at it.

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Saban began coaching in 1975 and didn't become a recognized elite coach until 2003 when he won a Natty at LSU at age 51. 4 of his 6 NCs have been since he turned 60. Pete Jenkins was an elite DL coach well into his 60's and Bill Johnson coached Aaron Donald to his best season (20.5 sacks) in 2018 at the age of 62.

Some guys don't have the drive to deal with the grind later in life, but some do and their wealth of experience is invaluable.

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I'll grant you Saban as being a good argument; however, one could argue that in his role as HC, his approach and responsibilities to recruiting are a bit different than the rest of the staff.

However, as it pertains to a coach like Jenkins, he was hardly recruiting, if any at all. Your post more points to their abilities as on-field coaches, which then your point may be valid. But the point of this thread is simply to discuss their abilities as recruiters. As I recall, teams were using Jenkins' age and the fact that he didn't do off campus recruiting to negatively recruit LSU. And as a result, many on this board called for Jenkins to be put out to pasture or back in an analyst role because it was hurting us in recruiting by having him as one of the on-field coaches.

And as for Johnson, again, what he did with Aaron Donald, while noteworthy, does not relate to recruiting. And like Linehan, he has not been in the college game (prior to this season) in nearly 20 years; so it is reasonable to suggest that he is not going to care much for the grind of recruiting, while also questioning how well he will be able to develop a relationship with 16, 17, and 18 year old recruits.

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However, as it pertains to a coach like Jenkins, he was hardly recruiting, if any at all. Your post more points to their abilities as on-field coaches, which then your point may be valid. But the point of this thread is simply to discuss their abilities as recruiters. As I recall, teams were using Jenkins' age and the fact that he didn't do off campus recruiting to negatively recruit LSU. And as a result, many on this board called for Jenkins to be put out to pasture or back in an analyst role because it was hurting us in recruiting by having him as one of the on-field coaches. And as for Johnson, again, what he did with Aaron Donald, while noteworthy, does not relate to recruiting. And like Linehan, he has not been in the college game (prior to this season) in nearly 20 years; so it is reasonable to suggest that he is not going to care much for the grind of recruiting, while also questioning how well he will be able to develop a relationship with 16, 17, and 18 year old recruits.

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I'll counter with this. The most important thing to recruit a kid and his family is "I will get you developed, I will get you drafted and I will get you paid."

Since my example is DL coaches I can guarantee our competitors are asking recruits "who was the last LSU DL to go 1st RD?" Marvin Wilson stated his pull to FSU vs LSU a school he loved and he loved O was that LSU had a rep as using DL to eat blocks. Pelini may be old but his DL will be aggressive. Same for Johnson under Pelini.

They don't need a bro, they want the dough.