When Brian Kelly accepted the head coaching position at LSU, he knew there was plenty of work to be done on and off the field.
After spending a few weeks with Brad Davis, who served as the interim coach for the Texas Bowl against Kansas State, Kelly retained the offensive line coach. He was the only holdover from the Ed Orgeron coaching staff.
The two faced a big challenge of rebuilding a depleted offensive line.
"We've got to bring that group together," Kelly said about the offensive line at SEC Media Days. "I believe the success of our football team will start and end with the offensive line and our ability to control the line of scrimmage."
Kelly & Co. made sure to secure the signatures of Louisiana's top offensive line talent in last year's recruiting class in Will Campbell and Emery Jones. The Tigers added Bo Bordelon and Fitzgerald West Jr. Through the use of the transfer portal, LSU also brought in Miles Frazier and Tre'Mond Shorts.
Add in the experience and versatility of Cam Wire, Charles Turner, Xavier Hill, Garrett Dellinger, Marcus Dumervil, Anthony Bradford and Marlon Martinez, and, suddenly, Davis has a bit of depth to work with this camp in preparation of the 2022 season.
“Brad Davis and I were having a conversation about it even during practice because there’s a lot of moving parts," Kelly said last week at the start of preseason camp.
"Dellinger’s at guard, we want to see him at center a little bit. You saw Frazier at guard with Bradford but Frazier could play tackle as well. We’ve paired them on the right side because we think they’re interchangeable. We like the fact Bradford has really good feet but Frazier’s got some length. Those guys are going to be center/guard combinations right now but I think it’s important there’s some flexibility here for the first two, two and a half weeks and we’ll build the starting five.
"Finding the rotation where you have your tackle is solidified, the center position and then we’ve got some good depth building in this unit but I think it’s going to take a little while for it to pan out.”
Kelly specifically mentioned the offensive line, along with quarterback and cornerback, as the critical position groups that have to be sorted out by the end of camp.
"There’s questions that have to be answered. I stand here in front of you feeling pretty good about the players we’ve put together in very short order and play at a high level in the SEC but the fact of the matter remains is we gotta figure out who those guys are," he said. "We’re going to go through camp and have to make some tough decisions and quick frankly rely on evaluations in camp to do that. That’s a little bit different in my years. Generally we’ve had guys kind of penciled in somewhere. There’s not a lot penciling in yet. There’s some work to be done.”
Practice No. 5 will be held Monday morning at 9:45 a.m. CT.
The Tigers start the regular season against Florida State on Sept. 4 at the Superdome.