Rumors have recently circulated about the health of LSU left guard Will Arnold, who missed five games last season due to a kidney ailment. Recent reports have stated his kidney is giving him trouble again, but Arnold said there is no truth to the rumors. “[I have] no problem at all,” Arnold said. “I don’t know how it got in the papers. I don’t know if they speculated it or what.” Arnold said last season he became dehydrated and didn’t know it because he showed no effects of dehydration. Arnold said judging from early practices, it does not seem the kidney will give him any problems during the 2006 season. He will be one of only two returning starters from an offensive line which helped carry the Tigers to an 11-2 record last season. Arnold and right guard Brian Johnson, the other returning starter, will assume the roles of leaders on the offensive line this season. Over the summer, Arnold was named to watch lists for two post-season awards and thrust into the spotlight even more. The junior left guard was named to the watch lists for the Outland Trophy, which is awarded to the nation’s best interior lineman, and the Lombardi Award, given to the best lineman or linebacker. Arnold said the possibility of winning the awards is a great honor. “It would be great to win it, but all I can do is go out there and try to play well,” he said. “Whatever happens with [the awards] happens.” Individual accolades and honors are not new for Arnold. The Gloster, Miss., native was a three-time first-team all-state selection at Centreville Academy, where he also played defensive tackle and totaled 83 tackles during his career. Arnold was ranked as the No. 9 offensive tackle prospect in the country by the recruiting Web site Rivals.com coming out of high school in 2003. Arnold said a major contributor to his high school success was great coaching, and his high school coach, Bill Hurst, said he never worried about the team having a let down when Arnold was on the field. “He was a dominating player,” Hurst said. “Whatever his job was on the field, it was a done deal.” Hurst said before Arnold entered high school, he could see that Arnold was going to be special.
Hurst recalled a practice session when Arnold, who was practicing with the high school team when he was in eighth grade, lined up against a defensive lineman who was being recruited by Ole Miss. Hurst said Arnold out-battled the Ole Miss recruit more than half the time, and he said since he last coached him, Arnold has replaced a great deal of “flesh” with muscle. Besides physical improvement, Arnold said he’s developed better blocking technique since high school. “We were a hard-nosed team [in high school], ran the ball a lot,” he said. “We probably threw the ball 10 times each season.” Because of that, Arnold said his pass-blocking skills were not what they should have been when he first arrived at LSU, but people like LSU offensive line coach Stacy Searels have helped him mature into the player he is today. “Coach Searels has been my coach since I’ve been here, and he’s the one that’s taught me everything I know about what I know now,” Arnold said. “He definitely gets my credit.” The leadership role he is expected to shoulder this season does not bother him, Arnold said. Hurst said the words “Will Arnold” and “leader” together in the same thought will be a good thing for LSU. “I feel like he’s going to be someone the young guys will be able to look up to,” Hurst said. Johnson said replacing players like offensive linemen Andrew Whitworth and Rudy Niswanger is something he and Arnold look forward to. “I think that it’s just a challenge myself and Will Arnold have to take as leaders to fill that void,” Johnson said. “And I think we’re ready for that challenge.”
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