LSU coach impressed by new AD’s recruiting sense
LSU swiped athletic director Scott Woodward from the same role at Texas A&M in the spring, and Tigers coach Ed Orgeron said he was surprised at Woodward’s acumen when it came to recruiting.
“Scott’s been phenomenal,” Orgeron said of the Baton Rouge, La., native and LSU graduate. “We didn’t know each other – I had only met him once or twice. Then he came in and checked out our recruiting and loved it. He loved what we were doing.”
Orgeron said Woodward already knew who LSU was recruiting – a rarity from Orgeron’s vantage.
“He’s the most knowledgeable athletic director I’ve been around so far in recruiting,” Orgeron said. “He knew every player on our board. In fact, he (recommended) a couple of players.
“He had some great evaluation tips, and he knows the game.”
Woodward, who hired A&M’s Jimbo Fisher from Florida State, inherited Orgeron from deposed athletic director Joe Alleva. Much like what Fisher has said at A&M, Orgeron claimed Woodward has set him up for success with the Tigers.
“He’s given me everything I need as head coach to be successful at LSU,” Orgeron said. “He’s going to work his tail off to make sure that we have everything we need to win championships, and that’s all you can ask of an athletic director.”
A&M hired Ross Bjork from Mississippi to replace Woodward, and Bjork started full time in College Station last week after wrapping up his duties in Oxford, Miss.
QB Bryant ‘natural fit’
One of the more intriguing players in the SEC this season is one whom ACC fans know well – former Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant, who lost out the starting job to then-freshman Trevor Lawrence early last season.
Lawrence wound up leading Clemson to the national title over Alabama in January, about the same time Bryant was transferring to Missouri.
“It was a natural fit,” Missouri coach Barry Odom said of the senior Bryant joining his program. “He’s a very selfless person with a low, low ego, and one of the best competitors I’ve ever been around.”
Bryant started all 14 games for Clemson in the 2017 season, when the Tigers lost to Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinals. He holds the Clemson record for most top 25 wins by a starting quarterback with six.
“Kelly has got a skill set that through the air or on the ground, he’s going to be able to help us in a number of ways at that position,” Odom said.
No matter how the regular season turns out for Missouri, Bryant won’t lead the Tigers into the postseason. The NCAA banned the program from a bowl game following the 2019 season after it ruled that a former tutor had engaged in “ethical and academic misconduct.”
Bryant had a chance to leave the program after the postseason ban was announced in January, but he chose to stick with Missouri for a final year of eligibility.
Florida’s Franks has options
The Boston Red Sox drafted Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks asa pitcher in the 31st round in June, and Franks has signed with Boston entering his junior season with the Gators (although he’s still quarterbacking this fall). Pro baseball should provide a nice backup plan if the whole quarterback thing doesn’t pan out.
“As a Red Sox fan, they do need help in the bullpen,” Florida coach Dan Mullen joked. “He can throw – he’s got a lot of heat.”
Mullen said Franks clocked 95 mph in a baseball workout. Mullen also was the quarterbacks coach of Tim Tebow, the former Florida quarterback and NFL player now competing in Class AAA for the New York Mets.
Realignment not a concern
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said any major conference realignment is a thing of the past – at least in the foreseeable future.
“There was a time when we said it was on the backburner,” Sankey said in his annual address Monday. “(Now) it’s up in the cupboard some place in the kitchen.”
The SEC has been at 14 teams since A&M and Missouri exited the Big 12 in the summer of 2012.