LSU’s 2012 signing class may have lacked pizzazz without five-star über prospects Gunner Kiel and Landon Collins, but LSU coach Les Miles seemed happy with the newest members of the Tiger family.
By National Signing Day standards, LSU’s day could be considered tame. The Tigers didn’t nab a single five-star prospect, and none of the recruits were ranked at the top of their positions.
But Miles said LSU accomplished its goals of replenishing positions that were depleted by graduation and the NFL Draft, specifically at linebacker and defensive back, where LSU nabbed 10 of its 22 commitments.
The linebackers look to be the headliners of the class, especially after four-star linebacker Kwon Alexander aligned with LSU early Wednesday.
“We graduated three guys that played the majority of our snaps,” Miles said about LSU’s linebacker situation. “The opportunity to recruit a great class there is just what this team needed.”
The Oxford, Ala., native chose the Tigers over home-state schools Alabama and Auburn. When he made his decision, Alexander removed his warmup to reveal an LSU bowtie with matching suspenders.
“Kwon Alexander … was one of the fastest and most athletic men that we saw on film,” Miles said.
Joining Alexander were Louisiana natives Ronnie Feist, Trey Granier and Lorenzo Phillips, rounding out what Miles called “the best linebacking class that I have seen” from Louisiana.
On the offensive end, Miles gave glowing reviews of quarterback Jeremy Liggins and offensive lineman Vadal Alexander and shared a funny story from the recruiting process of one prominent recruit.
Miles got a scare from an LSU legacy recruit in wide receiver Avery Johnson — former LSU star Patrick Peterson’s younger brother.
Quarterbacks coach Steve Kragthorpe called Johnson to ensure he was faxing his letter of intent, when Johnson decided to have a little fun with the coach, telling him he instead committed to Alabama.
Miles said Kragthorpe was taken aback, saying the coach lamented over the fact that Johnson never even visited the Alabama campus. As the coaches were wondering how it happened, Johnson’s fax arrived.
“We will punish him severely when we get him on campus,” Miles said to laughter.
The major coup at defensive back came in the form of safety Corey Thompson, a four-star recruit who decommitted from Texas A&M on Monday to choose LSU.
With Brandon Taylor graduating and top safety recruit Collins going to Alabama, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Thompson was a major get for the Tigers.
“Corey Thompson … was one of the fine safeties in the state of Texas,” Miles said. “Frankly, we had to have him. He made a last-minute decision to come to the Tigers and was really exactly what we needed.”
Thompson’s last-minute change of heart was a boon to LSU’s class, but the Tigers also got to feel the sting of being spurned for another school on signing day — the equivalent of being dumped right before prom.
Shreveport linebacker Torshiro Davis, a four-star recruit who had been verbally committed to LSU for nearly a year, decided instead to sign with Texas.
Unexpectedly missing out on Davis, who was ranked No. 77 in the ESPNU 150, hurt the Tigers’ class and left the coaching staff scratching their heads.
“We did not know that we were going to have a defection late,” Miles said. “We had no idea.”
A report emerged on Twitter from Tim Fletcher, the sports director for KTBS 3 in Shreveport, that Davis had heard some grumbles coming from Baton Rouge that may have had a say in his decision.
Fletcher’s tweet read, “‘I asked Toshiro [Torshiro] if anything happened recently that moved him off LSU: ‘yeah. Some of the players don’t seem that happy down there.'”
The loss of Davis, coupled with Collins’ commitment to rival Alabama and Kiel’s commitment to Notre Dame, put the finishing touches on what has been a somewhat bizarre month for the Tigers after losing the BCS National Championship game.
“Recruiting this year was a little unusual, I’d have to say,” Miles said. “I ran into some third-party influential pieces. I think there’s … lessons learned we’ll have to deal with as we go forward.”
There may not be a headliner in the group, but Miles said he’s not worried about what the future holds for this recruiting class.
“It’s not what you see in the 40-yard dash, it’s not what you see in how much they weigh,” Miles said. “It’s always going to be about the character, the integrity and the toughness and what they