Lamar University signed five high school standouts to National Letters of Intent Wednesday afternoon announced head football coach Blane Morgan. With the five additions, the Cardinals’ most recent signing class stands at 30 players – all incoming freshmen.
A historic first for Morgan and LU, as Morgan – who was hired in December 2019 – has just finished up his second official recruiting class without having coached a game for the Cardinals, due to the COVID pandemic which forced the 2020 football season to the spring semester.
“This is an extremely balanced class with an emphasis on the guys up front,” said Morgan. “We had a very strategic plan from the very beginning, and I thought we were very thorough in how we followed that plan. Our recruiting coordinator is a very detailed coach. The questions that we ask kids, and the detail that we go into when we recruit young men is a very involved process. Our staff has worked real hard evaluating thousands of prospects to find the right fits for this program. They’ve done a great job. It is a testament to our staff.”
The most recent additions to the roster have a focus on defense. The position breakdown of the five newest players include three defensive linemen (two defensive ends and a tackle), a linebacker and a receiver.
The overall 2021 class remains pretty balanced with a slight edge to the defensive side of the ball. The entire class consists of 16 players on defense, 14 offensive players and two specialists (with two players currently listed as possibilities on the both sides of the ball).
The position breakdown on defense includes six defensive linemen, six defensive backs (four corner backs and two safeties) and four linebackers. The offensive side of the ball includes five offensive linemen, four wide receivers, three quarterbacks and two running backs. The Cardinals’ staff also added two kickers/punters.
Big Red was able to stay fairly close to home to lockup in the incoming crop of talent, with all 30 signees coming from Texas (22) – including one Southeast Texan (Ayden Bell – Silsbee, Texas) and Louisiana (8).
“In my opinion, the hardest positions to recruit are the guys up front,” said Morgan. “With the exception of the quarterback, it’s where the game begins and ends. If you look at the guys we’re bring in up front you’re going to see some talented guys, with size, strength and a huge upside. In the middle, we’ve added some playmaking linebackers and running backs and on the outsides we’ve added some skill at defensive back and receiver.”
The Cardinals officially kick off their 2021 spring season Saturday, Feb. 20th, when they host Northwestern State. The game against the Demons will kick off at 3 p.m. from Provost Umphrey Stadium.