Ed Orgeron’s first order of business on the recruiting trail was to sign linebackers.
With the losses of linebackers Duke Riley and Kendell Beckwith to graduation, a huge void would be left at the position.
Beckwith was a three-year starter at linebacker and Riley emerged as an every-down linebacker last season, leading LSU in tackles with 93.
Putting a fence around Louisiana was a top priority for Orgeron, but after LSU missed out on the two top linebackers from the Louisiana area — five-star Dylan Moses and four-star Chris Allen — who opted to sign with Alabama, LSU was left with only one linebacker commitment, four-star Patrick Queen.
“One star, two star, three star, four star, five star, any star, I don’t care,” Orgeron said at his introductory news conference. “We’re going to get them.”
Orgeron hit the road in search of middle linebackers.
“We went out with a specific need to get middle linebackers,” he said.
The 55-year-old coach gained a commitment flipping four-star linebacker Jacob Phillips from Oklahoma on Jan. 26. Phillips, a native of Nashville, Tennessee is ranked as the top middle linebacker in the country.
At 7:45 a.m. on National Signing Day, Orgeron received a letter of intent from four-star linebacker Tyler Taylor, who picked LSU over Oklahoma and Auburn. Taylor is considered the No. 11 middle linebacker in the country.
“We have the best middle linebacker in the country in Jacob Phillips,” Orgeron said. “We filled a need there with three middle linebackers.”
Orgeron expects all three linebackers to be able to come in and compete right away for a starting role.
Defensive coordinator Dave Aranda’s development of Riley and Beckwith was a big selling point on the recruiting trail, Orgeron said.
Under Aranda, LSU gave up the least amount of touchdowns in the country and allowed 15.8 points per game.
“We went back to his early days of coaching at Wisconsin and all the guys he developed,” Orgeron said. “Walk-on guys who he developed. And you look at the guys we developed, Kendell Beckwith has gotten better. Duke Riley was the MVP of our team. We sold that on our recruiting. Dave Aranda is a very good coach, a very smart coach and a great man and did a tremendous job in recruiting.”
Going forward, putting Louisiana first will be LSU’s method of recruiting, Orgeron said.
But there’s much “work to do,” which begins with building relationships and winning more games Orgeron said.
“I said we’re going to get the best players in the state of Louisiana to come here,” he said. “We missed out on some guys. We have work to do and that’s always going to be our primary area and those are some things that need to get fixed.”