DEUCE GERALDS & RICH ANDERSON: LSU'S FRESHMAN STAR DEFENSIVE TACKLES PERSONIFY THE COACH O BLUEPRINT

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📸 by Gus Stark, LSU Sports

By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

Ever since Ed Orgeron left LSU in 2021, the Tigers embarked upon a years-long backslide at the defensive line position, in both recruiting & productivity.

While many would say LSU's defensive line play and recruiting was going "down hill" during Orgeron's last 2 seasons as Head Coach (2020 & 2021), Coach O still brought in 5 stars like #1 overall ranked DL talent Maason Smith or BJ Ojulari, and also secured highly ranked, hotly pursued in-state prospects such as Jaquelin Roy or Jacobian Guillory despite his then waining powers.

📸 by Gus Stark, LSU Sports

Now revitalized thanks to a few years off, a new wife, and his friendship with Lane Kiffin clearing his path back to coaching LSU's defensive line, albeit as an analyst under DL Coach Sterling Lucas, Coach O still holds an unshakable track record when it comes to turning highly ranked D-line talents into superstars:

We all know what he did at Miami...recruiting, developing and coaching the likes of Cortez Kennedy, Warren Sapp, and even The Rock on his way to multiple national championships....

Again, we all know how he helped Pete Carroll's USC dynasty with Shaun Cody, Kelechi Udeze, Mike Patterson, and during his second stint Jurrell Casey, and Leonard Williams....

Setting up Ole Miss linebacker Patrick Willis for success when Orgeron was in Oxford.

And then again at LSU with the 2019 National Championship squad boasting such DL icons as K'lavon Chaisson, Tyler Shelvin, Neil Farrell Jr, and Rashard Lawrence....

In 2026, Coach O is returning to a defensive line crime scene at LSU, following a season where Blake Baker's 23rd overall ranked defense struggled up front....no, they lost games up front....generating plenty of pressure, but only finishing off 14.5 total sacks by the D-line & edge rushers combined.

Now, the Tigers host an upgraded D-line, a group of more experienced rushers and DTs via the portal, but who is catching the eye and who happens to be getting all of the 1st team snaps?

A pair of freshmen at defensive tackle, Deuce Geralds and Rich Anderson, both showcasing themselves as perfect specimen for Coach O's 4-3, athletic, attacking interior D-linemen doctrine....something he couldn't install at LSU after his Head Coaching promotion and hiring of defensive coordinator Dave Aranda....watching Aranda's 3-4 gap clogging, read and react defense help LSU win a title...

Geralds giving out backpacks at a Back to School event he hosted last month.

But what Geralds and Anderson possess are the exact tools Coach O has been looking for, obsessing over, and currently, alongside DL Coach Sterling Lucas, he's developing them into penetrative, gap-clogging deathstars of interior brutality....holding the rope just long enough until bending it to their will...

While we're focusing on the interior, LSU also deploys two further elite freshman D-line talents: edge rusher & #1 overall player of his class, Lamar Brown (his future is likely inside at DT), and the versatile, slightly overlooked (but terrific) Trenton Henderson.

As LSUOdyssey spoke & wrote about many times before, the arrival and rise of these four Tigers is a very much needed change inside the trenches from the past 6 years of the post 2019 era:

LSU kept all the best Louisiana natives in state, even while firing their last DL Coach amid each signing day;

LSU was able to seal together one of the Tigers' best collections of D-line talent in program history, covering both the trenches & edges, delivering both top tier, premier talent and quality depth at a position the Tigers desperately needed to address during the offseason.

Now, as Rich Anderson and Deuce Geralds barrel through upperclassmen at guard or center, as Lamar Brown's presence and special athletic profile sent such a strong early message, it forced a second year Tiger out the door only days into Fall Camp, everything feels right in the world:

LSU will play true Fighting Tigers on their defensive line in 2026.

And yes, they may be young, they may make mistakes, but under the coaching & development of Sterling Lucas, Kevin Peoples, and Ed Orgeron, it will be extremely interesting, highly entertaining and I think ultimately satisfying to watch the careers of these 4 true freshmen D-linemen take shape.....

By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

©️ 2026 Uninterrupted Writings Inc