The safety position is considered the last line of defense on the football field.
These players are one poor decision away from giving up the coup de gras or one shoe-string tackle away from being a hero. They live on the edge.
Yet you probably could not name LSU’s safeties for the upcoming 2003 season.
Jack Hunt is the only returning starter at safety and should see time at free safety. Hunt, a senior from Ruston, La., started the final five games of the 2002 season at free safety for the Tigers. Hunt was converted from a wide receiver to play safety and responded with 58 tackles last season in 13 games.
Converting wide receivers into defensive backs is becoming trendy among LSU coaches, as junior wideout Michael Clayton is expected to share time with Hunt at safety this season.
Clayton played safety in the Cotton Bowl against Texas last season and recorded three tackles in 19 plays. Head coach Nick Saban is preparing Clayton to have more of an impact on defense this season, if necessary.
“Last year, we prepared him only to play in nickel and dime,” Saban said. “This year, we’ve taught him to play in everything. That way we can choose when to play him, where we need him and where we feel like we need him the most.”
But Clayton is not the only fresh face getting a chance to play safety. Freshmen LaRon Landry and Jesse Daniels are jockeying for position and a chance to start.
“Laron Landry and Jesse Daniels are both competing,” Saban said. “I think both of them are struggling a little bit in terms of being sure about what to do.”
Saban spoke highly of Landry, who was rated as the No. 22 defensive back prospect by College Football News in 2002.
“It doesn’t bother him if he doesn’t know what to do, he still makes 10 tackles,” Saban said about Landry after LSU’s first fall scrimmage. “He may give up a play or two by not being in the right spot, but that’s a good thing to me. It shows his spirit as a competitor and it shows that he likes to play.”
Saban said he also was pleased with Jesse Daniels, a Breaux Bridge native, who was the first commitment of the 2003 signing class for the LSU Tigers.
“We need those two guys to develop and grow up quickly because they could be our back-up safeties and they’re both going to be freshmen,” Saban said. “We’re working with them and we’re pleased with them. They’re not ready right now, but hopefully we’ll get them ready by early in the season.”
Junior defensive back Travis Daniels also is expected to spend time at safety this fall. Travis Daniels appeared in only five games last season as a cornerback due to a hamstring injury and only recorded three tackles.
Travis Daniels has been splitting time at both safety and cornerback this fall, due to the changing personnel on the defensive side of the ball.
“[Saban] has been shuffling people here lately,” Hunt said. “No decision is going to be made until the end of camp. Right now, we’re just trying to put guys in and see what they can do, see what they can learn to do and see how they react and respond during the drills.”
Saban said this year’s defense has the ingredients, along with a plethora of athletes to plug into the defense at his disposal, to be a solid group. But with any group of young players comes an increased level of anxiety, Saban admits.
“We may end up with three freshmen out of the top eight defensive backs,” Saban said. “I’ve got to get my Grecian Formula out.”