Garnett enthused over new LSU defense under Aranda
New LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda is bringing a fresh approach to Baton Rouge and that’s good news for West Monroe (La.) linebacker prospect Layton Garnett.
Aranda (along with northeastern Louisiana area recruiter Bradley Dale Peveto) visited Garnett’s home on Jan. 27 and the two connected quickly.
“I really like Coach Aranda,” Garnett told TigerBait.com. “He said that stars don’t really matter. He said, ‘I watch film and film speaks to me.’ He said, ‘I had a chance to go see a kid in Texas who is a linebacker and you. I decided to come here. I wanted to meet you and see if you were like what I saw on film. You are exactly the personality I thought you were.”
Garnett, who is considering a preferred walk-on offer from LSU, followed up with an official visit over the weekend that was even more eye-opening as he talked football over extensive film study with Aranda.
“He’s really analytical and you can tell he’s really intelligent,” Garnett said. “You can tell in how he runs his defense. It’s quite brilliant how he’s doing it. I haven’t seen a 3-4 defense like that. He’s kind of like a Jedi – like Yoda.”
Garnett believes Aranda’s impact will go beyond LSU.
“I feel like he’s going to change college football,” Garnett said. “Even coach Peveto said that he’ll have to learn this because they’ll all start doing this. When I was looking at it, we stayed in there about 45 minutes to an hour. It’s run like an offense. It’s a very confusing deal. He showed us film from Wisconsin and offensive linemen are on their heels at all times.”
Garnett added, “He explained to me that a 4-3 is like the Revolutionary War when you’d have everybody line up and just shoot each other. Your best guys against my best guys. He said 'I want to get a $50 job done for $15.'”
Garnett’s recruitment was slowed by an ankle injury that cost him his junior season, but in recent months he collected scholarship offers from Army, ULM, Northwestern St., Nicholls State and Duquesne.
“I want a great education and a good degree,” he said. “Football comes second. It’s where I can get the best degree in my mind.”
Meanwhile, LSU is now on board with the preferred walk-on offer that holds added value because of the defense’s new director.
“If I go to LSU, it’s because of Coach Aranda,” Garnett said. “That’s the bottom line. I feel like I really do fit in what he’s trying to do. The way he ran his Wisconsin defense, linebackers were just like me and seemed to work pretty well. That’s what it comes down to. I feel like I could be very successful at LSU with what they’re trying to do.”
Garnett said LSU is looking to replenish its linebacker depth with players who fit into Aranda’s 3-4 scheme.
“Their numbers are really low right now so I have a good chance to come in and play pretty soon with how Dave Aranda is structuring that defense,” Garnett said. “He likes bigger inside backers who are really instinctive.”
Garnett beefed up last summer to play defensive end at West Monroe last year and is currently about 6-3, 250. He attended LSU’s camp as a defensive end but would prefer to slim down to 230-240 and return to linebacker if possible.
Garnett said LSU’s current recruiting class doesn’t currently have a scholarship available but added that Aranda told him that if it was Wisconsin, I would have an offer from him. He likes me a lot. He’s really the deciding factor if I go or not because I’d love to be coached by a guy like that to see what I could do and fit into a scheme that I feel like is perfect for me. ”
Garnett shrugged off his two-star rating and was impressed that Aranda did too.
“Sometimes people get wrapped up in that stuff and get lazy and don’t analyze film on a kid like they should,” Garnett said. “That’s kind of how he came across to me and that’s his attitude toward me, that I can go and potentially earn a spot very quickly in his defense.”
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