SUNDAY SOAPBOX: "Big Changes Afoot" Edition

Joshua's Foot

Cool cast, Joshua - but get better, bro! And watch the pills and the booze together - too much of a good thing can be, well, too much.

Athletic Director

Joe Alleva, our new AD, hails for Duke University, of the lacrosse hooker scandal fame. I'm told he's a big fund raiser. I hope he remembers how to build a basketball team. I'm sure none of the lacrosse lunacy was his doing, but I have to wonder how good he must be that LSU couldn't hire an AD without that kind of immediate spin on his resume...

Basketball

Great job to the Lady Tigers for making the Final Four. Honestly, I think they were THIS CLOSE to winning it all. Big Syl and the other seniors leave a huge rebuilding problem for Coach Chancellor.

New men's coach. Like Joshua, I applaud the Trent Johnson hire. I think he can take some of the momentum that was building after Brady's firing and turn it into a significant improvement in the overall program. I am optimistic. Big time.

Baseball

My goodness. I do believe the Tigers have turned the proverbial corner. Two SEC series sweeps in a row! Leading the SEC West! Tied for third (I think) in the conference! In a week, the Tigers went from clawing for an SEC Tourny bid to wondering which NCAA regional they will get a spot in, and maybe even will they get to host? Coach Mainieri seems to have it figgered out! I listened to all three games against Kentucky this weekend, and when Clark came up to bat with one on two outs in the top of the ninth, I was absolutely confident he was going yard. From the sound of it, he went yard-yard! Hawthorne didn't even pause to assess. He said it was gone before the "Kank" of the bat was done.

I think the rebuilding is pretty much over, folks. The Tigers are back. Just in time for Skip to retire! What a great present to him. And what a great present from him to the University and the fans!

Football

RP is gone. I've tried to stay supportive, and I have to admit I'm disappointed. But I'm not the least bit surprised. I have zero inside info, but I think anyone paying attention at all probably thought there wasn't much chance of Perrilloux making it through the summer. Well, as it turns out, he didn't make it TO the summer. Bummer.

Which leads me to the meat of this Sunday Soapbox.

Quarterback

Consider the following:

• Lee is a RSFr with zero downs. Good spring practice, good spring game.
• Hatch is a Jr and a Harvard transfer. Insignificant downs last year. OK spring practice, very good spring game.
• Jefferson is an incoming true Frosh.

So, for 2008, what's the prediction? Well, it's really all pretty self evident. Unless Hatch smokes Lee in practice this summer, Lee will get a shot at starting for the defending national champs as a freshman. Very cool for him. Slightly unnerving for me. But only slightly, because he really looked pretty good this spring.

If Hatch DOES smoke Lee in practice, he'll get the nod, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Lee get a lot of time and pass Hatch sometime before SEC play.

I have to say, though, that I was impressed with Hatch at the Spring Game and thought he outplayed Lee. If he can match that performance during summer practice, he may surprise a lot of us.

Jordan Jefferson may be able to make a spot for himself. He's certainly a big and talented kid. However, he more than likely needs some time to learn the offense, develop physically, and sharpen his skill set.

The most interesting QB question then is will Jefferson redshirt? Two factors here.

First, will Lee and Hatch stay healthy all year? If either comes up lame for even one game, there's a very good chance Jefferson loses his redshirt.

Second, if Lee is the starter, and considering Shepard and Garrett signing in 2009, would the staff want to stack the guys up by redshirting Jefferson? Garrett already looks like an automatic redshirt to me. But Shepard is an amazing athlete. I think the staff will be hard-pressed to put a redshirt on a guy who could contribute from day one. So, if Shepard is in the mix from day one, and the staff seems to have told him he'll be getting his shot at QB, why would Jefferson (or the coaches) want to redshirt?

It's an interesting dilemma. And there's more to ponder, but I don't want to get ahead of the 2008 season. Shepard isn't signed yet. And Lee hasn't played a down of college football.

But the bottom line is that LSU has a current stable of QBs that have the potential to lead the team to success. And the stable will get much deeper and more talented in 2009.

And LSU will surround the stable of QBs with a TON of experienced talent.

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty stoked we start next year with App State, and Troy, and North Texas. Imagine starting with Miss St and Va Tech, like last year. Yowza.

More on the QB competition as the summer drags on. And on. And on.