He was in Alexandria and spoke to a gathering for LSUA athletics. He started off talking about his life and how he got to where he is. He mentioned how at Cal Lutheran he used to go to USC and meet with Ed Orgeron and discuss DL techniques and drills. He said one of his biggest mentors is Pete Jenkins. You could tell by the way he talked about Pete that he really does think very highly of him. At one point he began to discuss his philosophies and some of the LSU players. One of his basic philosophies is not to change the overall defense for an opponent. As he said the offense runs what they do best all season and you are going to change an entire defense for the one game. You get to practice that for one week to stop a team that has done their offense all season. He went on to say I can call a cover 3 and get a fourth pass rusher from the left OLB, or I can call a cover 3 and use an inside LB to rush. basically he said he likes to change the looks but the basic philosophy stays the same. He said that he wants to put his best players in situations against an area the opponent is using a weaker player. Look to put strengths against weaknesses.
He talked about using a quick nose guard to make the center and guards make quick movements. These quick movements key his inside line backers where to go. He said if we use a big nose guard the center and guards do not have to move as quick and they do not give our inside backers as good a read in that situation. He particularly mentioned Arden Key, he thinks Key can be an All American. He is real high on him. Kendal Beckwith was another, said for his size and speed he feels he will be a very good backer. Finally mentioned Jamal Adams, very complementary about him.
I asked him about linebacker depth. He said he really likes his two starters at inside backer, Beckwith and Riley. Said Riley is really smart and a big time leader, has that it factor. He said that Devin White may be the most instinctual linebacker he has and will be a very good one and will play a lot. He was complementary of Donnie Alexander, said the kid really is understanding what they want and is really playing well. His first remarks on the OLBs was he had plenty of depth outside and really likes them. Key will be very hard for anyone to block, Neal is just a guy that never stops. Had good things to say about Divinity, said he is going to be a real good backer with more reps. Likes Bower, said he will play in multiple areas.
On a side note he said back in the day he visited LSU and Tepper was showing him around and they went to an LSU baseball game and he could not believe the crowd. He said walking up to the stadium with Tepper a lot of tailgaters were yelling FU Tepper and he said Tepper just kept talking to him like nothing happened. You could tell he was kind of surprised by it.
He talked about using a quick nose guard to make the center and guards make quick movements. These quick movements key his inside line backers where to go. He said if we use a big nose guard the center and guards do not have to move as quick and they do not give our inside backers as good a read in that situation. He particularly mentioned Arden Key, he thinks Key can be an All American. He is real high on him. Kendal Beckwith was another, said for his size and speed he feels he will be a very good backer. Finally mentioned Jamal Adams, very complementary about him.
I asked him about linebacker depth. He said he really likes his two starters at inside backer, Beckwith and Riley. Said Riley is really smart and a big time leader, has that it factor. He said that Devin White may be the most instinctual linebacker he has and will be a very good one and will play a lot. He was complementary of Donnie Alexander, said the kid really is understanding what they want and is really playing well. His first remarks on the OLBs was he had plenty of depth outside and really likes them. Key will be very hard for anyone to block, Neal is just a guy that never stops. Had good things to say about Divinity, said he is going to be a real good backer with more reps. Likes Bower, said he will play in multiple areas.
On a side note he said back in the day he visited LSU and Tepper was showing him around and they went to an LSU baseball game and he could not believe the crowd. He said walking up to the stadium with Tepper a lot of tailgaters were yelling FU Tepper and he said Tepper just kept talking to him like nothing happened. You could tell he was kind of surprised by it.
