First-year LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda was pleased with the Tigers’ performance on Saturday in the Spring Game.
Aranda liked the effort his players gave and how smooth his defense had transitioned into a 3-4 system.
“It allows you to move people around and feel that it’s not a one-and-done,” Aranda said. “Let’s move people around and see what’s best, so spring was great for that.”
The Purple Team defeated the White Team 17-7 on Saturday.
Aranda admired the play of freshman Saivion Smith and veteran Dwayne Thomas. Smith intercepted a pass from quarterback Danny Etling in the fourth quarter. Thomas tied Duke Riley for the game-high with eight tackles.
“When you bring up Saivion, that’s immediately what I think of,” Aranda said. “He’s got all the skills in the world, so the athletic ability, length, toughness – all those things he has but what makes him special is he loves football and he wants to know football even more.”
Aranda is known for moving players from their traditional positions and into new ones. Quarterback Brandon Harris said he’s excited to see improvements in the fall. 
“That defense is flying around,” Harris said. “He’s got guys doing all kinds of things. You’ve got Arden Key – who’s 6’6 – he’s dropping and you try to throw around a guy who’s 6’6, I mean it’s pretty impressive.”
Aranda has made some switches along the defensive front. Ends like Arden Key and Tashawn Bower have taken turns playing linebacker.
Despite the constant movement, head coach Les Miles said Aranda will work with the defense to install more packages throughout the summer and into fall camp.
“Defensively, we put in a nice space,” Miles said. “I think our defense knows what to expect out of the calls and then now we’re in a position where we add some bells and whistles to the defense.”
Miles said that the Tigers have put in a good base and will continue to learn more packages as training progresses.
“Our defensive front is going be salty and when we get our secondary back healthy and some of the guys that are coming in – it should be a lot of fun,” Miles said.