Lane Kiffin and LSU Football Recruiting CANNOT BE STOPPED | with On3Sports' Glen West

We'll get back to the football conversation here as Glenn West of On3 Sports joins us to continue the conversation after another huge weekend of LSU football recruiting and they add two more commits. Glenn, good morning, thank you for joining us. Hey guys, thanks for having me. How are you guys? We're doing well, doing well. Extremely excited about what Lane Kiffin and his staff are doing over there at Football Ops. Obviously two more additions yesterday. Talk to me about what LSU added along the offensive line yesterday. Yeah, they get a big-time player in Terrence Smith, somebody that I think we at On3 and rivals have kind of really seen take some big steps from a physical development standpoint here over the last several months and someone that I think LSU feels really excited about. I think he was in town several times over the last couple months and built a great relationship with Eric Wolford, somebody that I think probably from a physical traits perspective is one of the more talented offensive linemen in the class and I think LSU right now is just kind of in that stage where they're making it pretty known to some of these guys in the trenches like you'll have some opportunities here. If you come here and you work hard and you develop in the right way, you could absolutely carve your way into some playing time early in your careers here at LSU and so somebody like Terrence Smith who has all the physical traits, he missed a good portion of his junior season I think last year and so he's kind of not been on the field for a while when it comes to an 11-on-11 setting so it'll be a really important senior year for him just to kind of get his feet back under him in some game time situations but just an awesome, awesome pickup there and then C. Holly is the young man that they got from Hawaii. I deliberately didn't pronounce his first name there because I'm not exactly sure I've pronounced it yet but he's another guy that LSU has been on for you know a little while now and I think Texas has been in on him. I think a couple other big-time programs have tried to make a big push for him and LSU really did a great job in that recruitment and you know literally within minutes of committing to LSU they asked you know why you know why did LSU pick up so much great steam here with you over the last several weeks and he just came out and flatly said they hired Ed Orgeron and so you know that's you know he I think you know somebody that you know that's an offensive lineman saying that about the Ed Orgeron hire is really, really impressive and something that you know obviously LSU when they kind of mapped out what you know Coach Orgeron's you know role was going to be coming back here this is the vision right you get him in you get you know a lot of these players around to where he can around him to where he can sell Louisiana where he can sell LSU and you can come up with players like this so another another guy that's you know maybe a little bit you know under the radar right now in terms of the evaluations and in terms of just the recruitment and just where he's ranked but someone that you know has a lot of big programs on top of him and you know LSU's able to you know get that flip from California. And when you talk about recruiting and roster building in the new age of college athletics a lot of the the conversation shifts back to money and the focus is to have your money on the field you know where you spend where you invest the most money you would like those guys to be performing on the field. When you see the strategy used by Lane Kiffin, Billy Glasscock, and the the rest of the staff what is your thought process on the way they kind of section out where they spend the money the way they use it in recruiting versus portal because to me offensive line is a position I believe a lot of people feel strongly about going and getting them out of the transfer portal rather than investing money in younger offensive linemen that might not see the field out of high school. What is your thought on kind of the way they've used the money and whenever they spend on an offensive lineman at high school do you expect to see them play earlier on? I think that they're being very smart with how they divide up their money from a high school perspective. I think probably with a couple of these additions with Smith with Ciali these are guys that you know I think could play early but not don't necessarily have to like I think that that's been part of the pitch to them and so you know I think that they're going to come in and have an opportunity to play but and develop and compete but you know I don't get the sense that these are guys that they're like breaking the bank for in terms of their recruiting resources here in the high school class like I just I think that these are guys that have very great traits that LSU wants to develop over a period of time and so that's kind of where I think they're leading right now with with those two but in terms of just the high school class overall like that this is that that's absolutely the the kind of trend here at LSU and that Lane Kiffin and this you know this recruiting staff and certainly at the top of Billy Glasscock the general manager that's the strategy they've taken going back to their time at Ole Miss and it's worked out for them like they're just not going to expend a super amount of resources on a player coming out of high school if they don't feel like he's going to be on the field early for them like I mean because you know the whole thing is like if they come to campus and you get them here for year one and everybody's pumped up about them and then they don't play and then they enter the transfer portal after year one well what have you really gained in the whole process so I just I think that it's very it's a very smart way that they've gone about it I mean they obviously have a lot of you know built-in trust in their evaluations when it comes to the portal season and how they'd like to build out their roster in that way but I think there are some players that they do feel like you know they want to you know go the extra mile for here in the high school class like Ahmad Hudson the tight end from Ruston like that's a big time big time get for them somebody that they feel like is going to be a future pillar of the program and so they went the extra mile to get him on board I think Easton Royal is another guy that they're obviously really making a trying to make a big push for here over the next several months and we'll see kind of what happens with him so they're still doing their due diligence here a lot of the big guys that you know I think they feel like they might have a chance at but you know they just they're also being very smart with the resources and I think that's the way you got to approach it here in the high school class. And you now with the addition of Terrence Smith that is the second player I believe they've gotten out of the state of Pennsylvania and there could be potentially a third talk about the job they've done recruiting that state and kind of where that has come from LSU surge into the state of Pennsylvania recruiting a handful of those athletes. Yeah so Terrence Smith and I believe it's Cade Cooper the wide receiver is the other one that they have committed right now out of the state of Pennsylvania I think it just points to just the wide range of recruiting that they've gone you know and and really attacked here in this cycle and what I think you'll continue to see with this staff I mean it's not just those two guys from Pennsylvania you know they've gone over to Florida for Amari Stevens and now you know Texas of course and Brandon Lacey you know Seale's from Hawaii like they they've they've dipped all over the place KJ Green from Georgia like they're they're they're they're going all over to get these talented players and I think that's just a strategy that this staff has used I mean Kiffin's been all over the place during his coaching career a lot of these coaches have numerous places over their careers and so they have built-in connections you know going up to up north to Michigan and you know Chicago area they also have some guys that they've been working on up there I mean they they've just really got a a well-versed group of recruiting areas that they're going to explore but I think at the end of the day it starts in Louisiana like that that I don't think is going to have that I don't think that should change and I think this staff kind of understands the importance of that and of course you've got you know a good nucleus of your class already here in state and you're still working on a couple of guys in this state as well so it's good that they're going out and they're finding the the right guys you know out of state but I think still at the end of the day in state is where LSU has always you know been able to make you know its best teams has been guys that have been cultivated and recruited from within the state. And speaking of out of state four-star running back Trey Segar announces his commitment at 10 a.m this morning talk about where you believe LSU stands there and just kind of the recruitment of the running back position in general you bring up Lacey of course out of Texas Segar I believe is out of South Carolina another out-of-state guy but they also had Trey Martin the Louisiana running back on campus this last week and talk about their plan in the running back room in this this commitment announcement specifically. Yeah they've moved quickly here with the running back group Kevin Smith has done an excellent job recruiting that position obviously starting with Lacey last week and look LSU feels like they're in a really good spot with Segar who commits here in about 45 minutes and so we'll be watching that closely another top 10 running back in the country you know somebody that you know Kevin Smith and his offensive staff identified pretty quickly and got him in on a visit and just really blew him and his family away on the visit and I think that's why you're seeing a lot of the momentum for LSU here in the in the days leading up to this decision so we'll be monitoring him closely I think he's somebody that has a lot of the tools that you know some of the running backs that Glenn Kiffin and that group have coached in years past have had success with and so he's going to be fun to watch and then you know Trey Martin from over there in Franklin Parish he's another one that we're keeping an eye on don't know that his commitment is going to come in the next day or two but it does feel like it's coming you know sooner rather than later and LSU is going to be pushing for him Florida's also very much in the mix for Trey Martin but LSU feels really good about their positioning for him as well so you know if all goes well you could be talking about a three-man running back class here and you know Lacey is somebody that we talked about last week who I think is you know maybe a little bit under the radar right now but you know they feel like has a lot of great tools to become a really good running back at the college level so really good job done by LSU if they get this you know these three over the finish line and then it just comes you know just you know comes to holding on to him through December. Right, are there any other names that stood out over the weekend from LSU's this past recruiting weekend where they had a handful of official visitors of course we talked about Trey Martin and Ciale but I know they had a handful of other guys were there any other recruits that LSU left a pretty good impact on and put themselves in a good position? Yeah I think cornerback Brandon Sherrard is one Brandon Sherrard is one you know he's you know somebody that Corey Raymond has recruited for a while now and they had him on campus this last weekend I think he's somebody to continue watching I think Oklahoma is another school that's really in on him you know the secondary as a whole had a bunch of safeties in for Jake Olson I think Davion Jones is one that they feel like they've made a good push for and so we'll see kind of what happens there but I do feel like you know coming out of that weekend you know Trey Martin was one and certainly you know Ciale getting the commitment from Ciale is a big one and so you know they'll continue to work on some guys but I do feel like you know they feel like they've set themselves up in a really good spot with a couple of other players and maybe Sherrard is the one that we haven't talked about yet that would be like you know a four-star corner or somebody that goes well pairs well with Marquez Davis who's already in the class I think he'd be somebody to monitor and somebody that LSU would take if he decides he wants to commit here so there are other schools in on him you know he's a Texas recruit you know the Texas schools are gonna make a push for him as well and certainly Oklahoma but that's probably the other one to really monitor here. A couple of questions from the chat Fonz asks with LSU getting more commitments from out-of-state players does that show how late of a run this staff got on the in-state guys and then a second question do you see this staff focusing more on in-state Louisiana players moving forward kind of a two-parter? Yeah I'll answer the second part first yeah I do think that that's going to be that has to be interwoven into this thing I think Lane Kiffin's identified that and seen that in his first six months on the job I mean I think there were probably three or four different times within the spring when we asked him questions about Louisiana about you know what he's learned about I guess recruiting in this state and how important it's going to be and he just he's raved about some of the recruiting you know visits that he's had with these guys in the state of Louisiana with their families with their parents so I do think that there's an understanding there that they have to be aggressive still in recruiting the state of Louisiana as far as the first part I think I don't know that they got a late start on the 2027 guys like they've been had they're gonna have a full year here to recruit that state and I know that's not like the two-year experience that you'll have you know with with guys in 2028 and 29 and going forward and whatnot but I feel like you know a lot of the guys that they've recruited in this class and feel like they have a good chance but they also had a pretty good understanding of it all this you know they just probably didn't have as good of a chance there as they might here with with some of the players that they're going after and so it's particularly in the state of Louisiana where you know they've done a really good job of locking down the state as a program over the last several years so you know I think that they still feel like you know Louisiana is where you know this program you know has always thrived in getting those players in state and I think that this is also just a staff that will have a really broad you know a really broad evaluation process on guys out of state as well you know you're going to see the the guys in Georgia and Pennsylvania and Hawaii or California like this is a coaching staff that goes all over the place to go get these players. To shift sports the the ruling of course yesterday it comes out the announcement that Brendan Soresby and Texas Tech have parted ways I want to ask you about maybe the how much that affects LSU men's basketball because of course when people have watched the Soresby some especially LSU fans their next thought is Will Wade and his roster he's put together I think of course RJ Luis is the one that stands out the most because of his eligibility but where what is your confidence level on Will Wade's roster and maybe if any of what's played out with Soresby and the eligibility rulings if that has any effect on what LSU men's basketball can do? Yeah well first of all it's a good win for college football that ultimately you know decided itself and then the fact there was so much unity here and saying like okay this is a bridge too far like we've gone so far over the line here but this is one we can't cross like I think that's a really good a good thing for college football and college sports but you know in terms of the LSU basketball side like I just I think it was always going to be difficult or it is always going to be difficult to get a guy like Luis eligible I mean I think LSU will make their case and they'll you know that if they if they you know get denied the waiver from the NCAA they think they very well could take this to court and see if they can't get an injunction to make Luis eligible but you know look the actual decision of Soresby to enter the supplemental draft you know it doesn't really change much in terms of like the confidence you should have in Luis here like I mean I think the the court still decided that Soresby could play and so if Soresby hadn't taken his name or mutually decided to part ways with Texas Tech he'd still be playing like I mean he'd still be eligible to play right now if he hadn't made that decision so you know look I think LSU will continue to shoot his shot there with Luis I still feel really good about the the international guys like I think most of those are pretty cut and dry situations to get most of them eligible it's just a process and it's just going to take a little while to get them all over here but they've already announced the the four transfer portal additions that they've had so those guys are on campus and and working out they've already posted I've seen several of them post different messages and photos and stuff on Instagram so it's good to have those guys in but we'll see on Luis but I think the international guys are at least in most of the cases I think are pretty cut and dry and LSU will will have a a really veteran team a team that has a lot of professional experience and should have some physicality and toughness to them to compete in and with RJ do you feel like is there anything that the NCAA can do if he's deemed eligible when you get an injunction and then down the line maybe he's ruled ineligible officially is there any consequence that LSU can suffer if they play him under the injunction I mean I guess but I mean like we've seen guys I think in college football play with injunctions before like I think this has happened before I can't remember exactly where but you know I think you know look the lowest situation here if you get him eligible would would certainly be something that is a little unprecedented because of his situation of signing a two-way contract and the and the very blank you know cut and dry rule from the NCAA saying that you cannot sign a two-way contract they come back to the NCAA and play you know in college again like that's a very firm rule that they have and so you know the the I think what would happen in that situation would be certainly the NCAA would appeal and they would have to you know hear that whole process out in the courts again and so you know you'd have to kind of see when that court date would be like it would it be in March would it be in April would it be like in January like when would that actually be you know in terms of just the NCAA fighting back on that decision if that were to LSU if that were to go LSU's way so there's just so much unknown there that I don't know that I can give you a real clear concise answer but you know look if LSU plays him and he's you know deemed eligible by the courts but you know somewhere down the line the NCAA gets in and you know they win that case or win that you know injunction or whatever however that process works then I think we can have a different conversation but I also think that you know we'll just kind of have to wait and see what happens there. Another switch of sport baseball Jay Johnson the job he's done just want to get your thoughts on the the pieces he'll be able to bring in through the portal and of course getting Steven Mylan back and as he withdrew his name from the draft. Yeah getting Mylan back was so huge for this program and you know we got a little you know tipped off on it last week that was maybe coming down the pike and you know Jay Johnson said he was in his office when when Steven texted him that he was you know coming back and that they were they were working on that for several days if not weeks to potentially get him back into the fold for next year but just just a really great run though for LSU overall because they went in they found you know instant impact transfer portal pieces and these are guys that you know everybody from you know the Baseball Americas on threes to D1 Baseball like they're all ranked really really high in these in these portal rankings you know when you talk about Beano Waters and Dawson Park and Cade Kerland and Jason Wax from Tulane like all four of those guys I think are going to be able to step in and compete and be everyday kind of players for LSU and had a chance to actually sit down with Coach Johnson yesterday and kind of get his thoughts on all those guys and you know I think from an infield perspective in particular he likes that not only Milam but Park and Kerland are all capable of playing the middle infield they're all capable of playing shortstop and he kind of hearkened it back to to 2025 when they had Michael Braswell and Milam and Dickinson but they felt like all could play shortstop and all could be elite infielders and obviously that netted one of the best defensive infields in program history so you know they have a they have an idea of how they want this thing to go I think from a position player side but they obviously need more development here from the pitching staff and a lot of that's going to have to come from the returning pieces that returning core here but they've gotten A-plus marks so far with what they've done in the portal they've really been really aggressive they've gotten the guys that they need and on the position player side you know Landon Hood's another guy that you can slide in to a very meaningful role from a pitching perspective but LSU feels really good about where they're at right now and we'll see like they might have one or two more moves they want to make on the pitching side before they call it quits in the portal and then it's you know all about the MLB draft and seeing which high school guys can get through that process. Are they evaluating the pitching staff kind of with the draft in mind as well like when you look at a Santee Garcia obviously some other of those other left-handed arms that you have but Santee Garcia is one that comes to mind when you think of the major league baseball draft and if that is the case then I could see them going into the portal and looking for more left-handed arms which are quite the commodity to find but have you heard anything on that end? Yeah I think so they're definitely planning for that and look they're planning for the freshman class too like this incoming freshman class they feel really really strongly about and you know they're working on a lot of these players right now they're flying all over the country to kind of get their their last pitches in their last you know understanding of where each player is at and their process in terms of what you know what the MLB could offer them and what they would be willing to accept and what they would be willing to not accept to come to school here so you know that that stuff is all you know going to be what the next month is about getting a better understanding of that but yeah in terms of your direct question there yeah guys like Garcia, Sheeran, Gavin Guidry I think probably would like to sign as well so you know you could see LSU I think maybe add another you know portal arm or two here I don't know if that's you know going to be you know one or two additions that they want to make but they certainly are still doing their due diligence in the portal and as you're seeing there's you know more teams getting eliminated more guys are entering the portal in that whole process and so I do think that there there could be another addition or two made on the pitching side and you know I'll be very curious to see what that looks like whether it's a left-handed guy I mean they could probably use left-handed pitching but you know I think they feel pretty solid with Cooper Williams with Ethan Plog with Danny Lockenmayer developing in the program those are three guys that I think LSU would like to have back and you know at this point you know none of them have entered the portal or anything so guys that they expect to have back next year at this point and if I stand on a ladder and put a gun to your head who do you think plays shortstop for LSU is it Dawson Park or Steven Milam? I think it's pretty clearly Steven Milam I mean I guess anything can happen between now and next year but I mean I just I know I've covered a lot of Jay Johnson's teams I feel like I've gotten to know him and his thought process a little bit here and I just can't tell you how many times I looked in the dugout this year and Milam made some ridiculously great play at shortstop and Jay Johnson was just sitting in the dugout shaking his head like I mean the dude just is a an all-world class defensive player at that position and that's the most premium position in the infield and so I have a hard time believing LSU will mess with that but you know certainly anything can happen they can sure have conversations throughout the fall and into the spring about what the best you know deal is for that but I just I have a hard time believing that Steven Milam is not going to be the shortstop. Yeah I just read your like I read the write-up that you did and it was Jay's like Dawson Park really can't play shortstop like he can really play shortstop and I would imagine the pitch to Dawson was not with Milam in mind of coming back and so now it was yeah yeah it really was I mean like they were recruiting Dawson Park to be the shortstop and then the Milam stuff really kind of gained traction there and so it's a great problem to have if you're LSU to have two guys that you could potentially play that spot and play it really really well but I just I think that Dawson Park also feels like a really good third baseman too like he's got a very strong arm he can you know be a really great defensive third baseman as well but we'll see there I don't think anything's set in stone I just have a hard time personally believing that you know after the season that Milam just had it shortstop that you know he's he's he's gonna go play second or third right right no he's just he's just so good at that spot I completely agree we've got one more last one from the chat T5 asked or he says I need Easton in purple and gold and he asks you what is your percentage on Easton Royal and where LSU stands I like LSU's chances more than Florida I'll put it that way but in terms of flipping him from Texas I think it's just going to take a while like I mean I just I I'll put it maybe at like a 30 percent for LSU to pull this off but I just I think that right now you know Texas feels really good about that commitment they're going to get him back I think that's the plan at least to get him back for an official visit this summer on the 19th and this final weekend of recruiting and I just think LSU is just going to have to play a little bit of a longer game you know like I just I don't think that you're going to see you know on June 20th Easton Royal wake up and say hey I'm flipping from Texas to to LSU like I just I think there's going to be a process here LSU wants him they want him that and they are going to continue to pursue him even if he reaffirms his commitment to Texas after this visit that's coming up this weekend like they're not going to stop recruiting him and they've had him on campus a ton here over the last couple months and he's been very receptive to this new staff he loves this new staff and I just think they're going to have to continue working on him and I said this a couple times but I just I think the the schedule here in the fall is really going to do wonders for LSU like I really feel like you know whether it's Clemson whether it's Texas A&M whether it's Texas in November Alabama in November if LSU is playing meaningful football at that time of the year those elect those atmospheres are going to be absolutely electric and they're going to absolutely try to get some of their top targets some of their top commits you know some of the guys that maybe down the line could be thinking of flipping to closer to the signing day those games are going to be so incredibly impactful I think in my opinion to seeing kind of where this program is going where the trajectory is going and you know having Kiffin and all these guys you know there to kind of pump up this this this this new era I think it's going to be really really important and really could have a great effect on some of these these recruits that they're able to get on campus this fall and then last one that I have I want to same question percentage on Jalen Brewster if they can flip him from his Texas Tech commitment yeah that one I don't have a great feel on I mean they obviously you know Brewster's been posting a lot on social media about LSU and so I feel like they've made a strong impression and a strong move for him but again I think that's one that I don't feel like is imminent but I also like I mean I just don't have a great feel on that recruitment in terms of just their odds of being able to flip Brewster at this time like I think there's just like like with Royal there might be a process here that they have to let play out and you know I will see kind of what happens there but they they feel really strong about the position they made for him a few weeks ago and I think they've certainly left a lasting impression as you've seen here while he's taking official visits to other places he's still posting about LSU which is really you know really really a good sign if you're the Tigers. Well Glenn we appreciate you make some time for us of course all the insight and we'll talk to you again soon. All right guys yeah thank you for having me. Thank you. There he is Glenn West over there with On3 Sports.