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LSU Football: 3 biggest surprises from Tigers’ 2019 season

By Dante Pryor

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JANUARY 13: Head coach Ed Orgeron of the LSU Tigers celebrates after defeating the Clemson Tigers 42-25 in the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Mercedes Benz Superdome on January 13, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JANUARY 13: Head coach Ed Orgeron of the LSU Tigers celebrates after defeating the Clemson Tigers 42-25 in the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Mercedes Benz Superdome on January 13, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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GLENDALE, ARIZONA – JANUARY 01: Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase #1 reacts with teammates wide receiver Justin Jefferson #2 and offensive tackle Saahdiq Charles #77 of the LSU Tigers after scoring a 32-yard touchdown during the third quarter of the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl between LSU and Central Florida at State Farm Stadium on January 01, 2019, in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA – JANUARY 01: Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase #1 reacts with teammates wide receiver Justin Jefferson #2 and offensive tackle Saahdiq Charles #77 of the LSU Tigers after scoring a 32-yard touchdown during the third quarter of the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl between LSU and Central Florida at State Farm Stadium on January 01, 2019, in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

3. Joe Brady

After the departure of Les Miles, there were cries from all over the state of Louisiana to open up the offense. It seemed as if dynamic wide receiver talents like Dwayne Bowe, Odell Beckham Jr. and Roscoe Parrish were wasted playing in boring vanilla offenses.

Enter Ed Orgeron. He was the interim coach after Les Miles was let go midway through the 2016 season. The first thing Orgeron did differently was recruiting a different type of offensive linemen. No longer looking for big imposing road graters, Orgeron and his staff looked for more athletic smaller linemen.

They always recruited “freak” athletes at receiver and running back so that wasn’t an issue. Orgeron and offensive coordinator Steven Entsminger had one problem. What specifically did they want the offense to look like?

Enter Joe Brady. He was a young, bright, rising star assistant working for the New Orleans Saints. Tigers were invited to the Saints facility to work on some red-zone and RPO stuff and were introduced to Brady. He checked all the boxes they needed to run the system they’d been recruiting for since Orgeron got there.

The RPO-spread style offense was perfect for the Tigers because the transfer quarterback they opined for so aggressively ran a similar offense in high school. Brady lined up all the pieces Orgeron and his staff had recruited to Baton Rouge. If those offensive studs were the C-4, Brady was the blasting cap for their offensive explosion.

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