HOOVER, Ala. — Coming to SEC Media Days is a welcomed change for senior defensive end Christian LaCouture compared to his last summer.
Last August, LaCouture suffered a torn ACL in fall practices that ended his senior season before it started. The knee injury was the third significant injury he had suffered within a year. In 2015, LaCouture suffered a stress fracture in his foot during practice before the Western Kentucky game and broke his arm in LSU’s bowl game against Texas Tech.
A few days after suffering a torn ACL, LaCouture’s family home near Baton Rouge took in five feet of water during the historic August 2016 flood.
LaCouture lost his car and most of his belongings in the flood. The LaCouture’s, who moved to Baton Rouge after Christian’s freshman year at LSU, were able to return to their house soon after the flood. Christian, his sister and two parents crammed into the one bedroom that did not flood. Among the other occupants were a 230-pound Mastiff, an English Bulldog and his sister’s cat.
“It was hard,” LaCouture said. “My family lost their whole house. I had to recuperate because of my knee, but I had my mom and dad carrying wet mattresses and I couldn’t do anything. It was hard to see.”
However, LaCouture’s injury came with a silver lining. LaCouture wants to be a football coach, he said, and with his inability to play he became a pseudo assistant coach for coaches Ed Orgeron and Pete Jenkins.
“It was interesting,” LaCouture said regarding his experience helping on the coaching staff. “I tried to make it to as many meetings as I could, and understand the gameplan for week-to-week, who we were playing, what we were doing for that scheme.”
This year, LaCouture doesn’t plan on standing on the sidelines in what will be his final year after taking a redshirt in 2016. LaCouture, who walked on senior day, made his decision to return to the program after Orgeron was given the permanent head coaching position.
“When I found out he got the job, I was so relieved,” LaCouture said. “I did not want to go through another coaching change. I sat down with my family, and decided this was the best choice for me and went with it.”
LaCouture will don No. 18 for the Tigers in 2017, becoming the second defensive lineman to do so after Bennie Logan wore it in 2012.
LaCouture’s leadership and ability on the field will be tested in the fall. He is the most experienced starter on defense, and will be leading a defense that lost nine players who made a start in 2016.
“I’ve just got to be a leader,” he said. “At LSU we have young guys play big roles, and we have some freshman who will need to play. I think in the conference and the division we are in you have to have those guys prepared. It’s next man up.”
With injuries and unfortunate circumstances behind him, LaCouture said this is the best he has felt, and hopes 2017 will be his year.
“I didn’t want to go out like that,” he said. “I decided why not, let’s exhaust everything and go one more year.”
