I’ve been trying to really understand why our offensive line has not performed very well the last two years. Is it personnel, is it coaching? We’ve had the same center the last two years, Liam Shanahan. Smart guy from Harvard. His Bio says: he makes all the calls and checks on the line of scrimmage. I watched the McNeese game live and then again in TV the other day. Several times he is standing there not blocking anyone because he had no one in front of him. So….. since he calls the plays….is he being outsmarted? Doubtful. Does the other lineman not follow directions? Possible. Are they being coached poorly? Doubtful… same results with 2 different offensive coaching staffs… Lack of talent….. Bingo…. Either physical or mental or disinterest…. just my opinion. I know little about playing OLine. Only what I have seen in the last 50 years plus. We are just being overwhelmed routinely…. Coaches say we need to fix this….but we may not have the personnel to fix…Yeah this one is hurt snd so is that one but typically in an elite program it is next man up… We have to somehow recruit better or we may be doomed to this for awhile… Back to centers… Our Previous Centers Lloyd Cushenberry Will Clapp Ethan Pocic All are in the pros. Do we think Liam will be… Hope so but I doubt it..
I haven't been watching as closely as I used to. I believe the product on the field over the past two years at the o-line positions is not a result of 2 years of bad recruiting. It goes further back than that. O-line talent in Louisiana isn't there or it's going else where. The big corn fed boys are staying put in their own states or going to other top tier programs. Then you get what is left and the majority of those guys are probably playing because their momma wants the chance at a big NFL check..
The talent level of our O line is down significantly. There has been a problem getting young talented linemen to develop, and I don’t know what it is. The O line recruiting is certainly getting better, and should improve in the coming years. It does suck now, though.
It seems to me w some of the guys LSU has had that had awesome NFL careers, there is a coach in that group.
Cregg was caught cheating for 5 star offensive tackles that led to his dismissal. 5 star offensive tackles he didn't even sign. He was an absolutely terrible recruiter. Pretty decent coach, but dreadful since he was hired on the trail. O not firing him sooner will ultimately be his undoing. 2019 was a mirage. Lot of those guys overachieved, which is great, but you can't count on your line yearly in the SEC being overachiever. Kentucky has to do that. LSU should be loaded with 4 and 5 star linemen at every spot. It was bad.
I am hoping that A & M is a pretender, per usual, and gets sent back to the kids' table of the SEC with a quickness.