As was no surprise to this blogger, the supposed “boycott” meeting that took place last week proved to be largely a non-event.
A meeting did take place, as had been scheduled for some time, but it was largely focused on some issues that the coaches had some questions regarding, such as eligibility issues for players, both with the NCAA and the LHSAA, among other things. And yes, the departure of Jabbar Juluke from LSU’s coaching staff was discussed — a perfectly normal thing, as he’s not only the local recruiter of Louisiana’s Flagship University, but a friend and mentor to all of these coaches.
But no boycott was discussed, and frankly, it doesn’t sound like there was ever a serious plan to. Per this interview with Edna Karr head coach Brice Brown on 104.5/104.9 ESPN radio, it sounds like the whole issue stemmed from an email chain that was leaked to recruiting media. Speculation on my part, but it sounds like the “b” word was probably used by a small portion of the people involved in the chain — Brown claimed he didn’t even know all of the people involved.
Personally, it was very encouraging to hear Brown make it very clear that he didn’t believe it was his job as a coach to interfere in any opportunities for his players to go to college. That’s an attitude at least one other coach in the state would do well to emulate, namely Parkway’s David Feaster, who came off like a complete jackass in this interview on 104.5’s morning show, Off the Bench with Jordy Culotta and T-Bob Hebert. Culotta and T-Bob do a good job of giving the guy plenty of room, and between his silly and downright irresponsible take on Alabama (over a recruiting practice that is extremely common) to his inability to accept any flaws in Brandon Harris’ game, Feaster shows both cheeks of his rear end. If I were a parent of a Parkway student, I’d have a number of questions. And if I were the principal there, I’d have a very strong edict for my football coach regarding college recruiters.
Either way, the situation proved to be much ado about nothing, and Brown and other New Orleans coaches met with Ed Orgeron shortly thereafter, per The Advocate. I’m sure they had some questions about how Orgeron would approach the recruiting the New Orleans area, and maybe even some suggestions for him (for all we know, the Mickey Joseph hire was one of them beforehand), but all of those that is a natural part of the process of a new coach taking over.
For what it’s worth, former LSU recruiting coordinator and current Texas-San Antonio head coach Frank Wilson spoke to the delegation at the meeting, and former Tiger linebacker Eric Hill (now a businessman in the New Orleans area and a member of the Tiger Athletic Foundation board of directors) sat in on the meeting.
It may also be no coincidence that Joseph and Orgeron moved quickly to offer another pair of receivers from the New Orleans area, in McDonough 35’s Lawrence Keys III and Archbishop Rummel’s JaMarr Chase.
Our recruiting staff can say more, but given the crowded class at the position, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if there’s a little local politics involved. Although both players have other SEC offers. Look for more in the discussion of this weekend’s “Boys From the Boot” recruiting event, coming tomorrow.
Speaking of recruiting, Ross Dellenger has another excellent feature in the Advocate on Tyler Taylor, who was a bit overshadowed on National Signing Day despite being one of the best surprises of the day.
In another piece of news, LSU announced hall-of-fame offensive tackle Anthony Munoz as the speaker for this year’s coaches clinic. Yours truly will be hoping to attend Matt Canada’s session, naturally.
Additionally, Danny Etling was named as the vice-chair of the SEC’s student-athlete Leadership Council. Very cool honor for the Tiger QB — and likely another indication of why Harris might have decided his best shot at a starting job was elsewhere.