LSU's 2019 class billing itself as home-grown foundation to national titles

Kardell Thomas raised eye brows in November when he guaranteed Alabama had beaten LSU for the last time.

His Southern Lab teammate and fellow Tigers signee Tyrion Davis went a step further Wednesday following a ceremony in their school's gymnasium in which they and their parents completed their national letters of intent.

"I think we're gonna win a national championship every year," said the 6-foot-1, 223-pound running back. "No doubt."

That aggressive of a mindset and bold of a declarations garnered widely mixed reaction for Thomas during the past six weeks and likely will for Davis as well.

But as coach Ed Orgeron explained at his evening press conference, he appreciates his players to join the program expecting to compete for titles.

Guarantees and predictions go out the window once they arrive, though, he said, in favor of a focus on the steps to reach those heights.

"I think that's one of your goals always when you get here — why you come to LSU — but then I think you put that aside and start worrying about the basics every day," Orgeron said. "Taking it one at a time. One day, when we do win championships here, we'll talk about it. But we're gonna do it before we start talking about it."

The Tigers added 19 players on Wednesday's open to the early signing period — a haul that places the class No. 4 nationally with seven weeks remaining until the more traditional National Signing Day.

Thomas, Davis and the rest of the increasingly impressive 2019 class recognize that dynamic, too, and appear as committed to that process as they have been the program itself.

"The talk is about to become action," Thomas said. "So we've talked about it. And now it's just time to go do it. It's time to go put all those words to work, work hard, get in the starting lineup and put on for our city."

Thomas has long referenced publicly, as well as in his pitches to fellow prospects, the importance of Louisiana prospects staying in-state and the potential for LSU to compete for titles if they do.

"The last time a lot of people from Louisiana stayed, we won a championship," the 6-foot-3, 258-pound lineman said. "So that’s the biggest thing and we’re just trying to follow in those footsteps. So it’s a big deal. A very big deal."

LSU kept Davis, Thomas and Dunham cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., the nation's top-rated prospect, in Baton Rouge.

And nearby Kentwood wide receiver Trey Palmer, Destrehan running back John Emery, John Ehret linebacker Donte Starks and Teurlings Catholic offensive lineman Thomas Perry, as well as Haynesville defensive tackle Joseph Evans farther north, securing their positions in the class.

"Huge," Orgeron said. "That's what we're about. That's what we're about. We want to do that, and I think for the most part we have. And for the most part right now we've signed the guys that we targeted. The guys that we're still targeting and have not signed, we're going after 'em. But we did not lose a guy today that we offered a scholarship or wanted to in the state of Louisiana, which is good."

The Tigers did not pursue the only prospect in the state's top 10 to sign elsewhere Wednesday: University Lab linebacker and Clemson signee Bryton Constantin.

Ruston tight end Ray Parker did not sign, but remains committed to LSU at the moment.

And Amite teammates Ishmael Sopsher and Devonta Lee have long planned to make their college decisions in February and remain heavily in play for the Tigers.

""State of Louisiana first," Orgeron said. "You know, to get the skill players that we got and the two great running backs that we had. We add Derek Stingley, who's one of the best young men I've ever recruited and gonna be an outstanding corner for us. And then we get the lines.

"You've the offensive lines. You've got big guys. I think (Utah defensive tackle) Apu (Siaki Ika) was a big plus for us today. We've got a ways to go on the defensive line. That's gonna be a priority for us, but I think there's a diversity, we filled needs and (won) the state of Louisiana and then we went out of state and got some great players."

LSU's last national championship, following the 2007 season, featured a slew of prominent Louisiana natives — as most of the program's rosters do — but also several key out-of-state playmakers.

For every Jacob Hester and Early Doucet, or Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson, those Tigers featured a Matt Flynn and an Ali Highsmith.

Orgeron and company feel confident they found those fits, too, in Ika, quarterback Peter Parish (Alabama), linebacker or safety Marcel Brooks (Texas), cornerbacks Cordale Flott (Alabama) and Raydarious Jones (Mississippi), linebacker Kendall McCallum (Alabama), offensive linemen Charles Turner (Ohio) and Anthony Bradford (Michigan), tight end T.K. McClendon (Georgia), long snapper Quentin Skinner and kicker Cade York (Texas).

Many of the incoming players and their families expect to push for immediate playing time — if not larger impacts.

Orgeron mentioned both running backs as being likely to earn opportunities quickly.

Kardell's mother, Janice Thomas, referenced the potential of her son competing for freshman all-American honors.

Stingley looks as likely a punt returner from Day One as any returning player and a likely starter at cornerback.

"With this class, the other people that’s there, this class is gonna make ‘em better, because this class coming in now is hungry — they want to play," said Franklin Evans, Joseph's father. "They don’t want to just go to LSU and sit on the bench. They want to go down there and take some starting positions, and that’s gonna push the other guys

"I mean, Joseph’s work ethic, man. He stays after football practice and does more than what he’s supposed to do just to get better. And in the summer, we got a 50-pound vest, and he’d put it on early in the morning and jog two miles. I would jog with him, but my knee’s bad, so I drive behind him in the car while they do that. It’s stuff like that that just you don’t coach that. It’s just that desire that kids have."

Thomas and company were impressed by the Tigers' 9-3 season, with a pair of those losses, at Florida and at Texas A&M, coming only narrowly on the road against SEC competition.

Many fans and media projected LSU as a potentially 6-6 or 7-5 team prior to the season — a prediction at which Thomas and Davis in particular scoffed.

The Tigers climbed as high as No. 3 in the national rankings, before losses to Alabama and Texas A&M, and enter their bowl matchup at No. 11.

And their new 2019 signees feel they can indeed provide the extra boost to lift LSU back into playoff contention at the end of the season. And do so sooner than later.

"They got to No. 3. And even through they didn’t keep it, they’re gonna finish out high as a good team," Thomas said. "So when you have it on your mind and you have the players on one accord, you will succeed your expectations. And when we get in there, we’re gonna push and contribute to where we can get in that top-three or top-four spot or even that No. 1 spot and get in the playoffs and compete for that national championship, which I really believe we have the potential to do."

Orgeron said his staff was able to be more deliberate in their approach to this class than a year ago in their first full recruiting year and the first year of the early signing period.

And the Tigers have already seven key commitments on board for 2020: quarterbacks T.J. Finley and Max Johnson, defensive tackle Jaquelin Roy, offensive lineman Courtland Ford and the trio of wide receivers in Kayshon Boutte, Kris Draine and Darin Turner.

So Thomas, Davis, Stingley and company can see the momentum building and the opportunity for major achievements on the near horizon — whether anyone else is ready to talk about them or not.

"I feel championships," Stingley said. "We're gonna win a championship with the 2019 class. And the 2020 class is starting to look real good too, so we're gonna make a run."