Brian Kelly and the Louisiana recruits among the top storylines in the Early Signing Period

How many of the top Louisiana prospects will sign with LSU?

Based on the new overall rankings from 247Sports which factors in transfers, the LSU Tigers currently sit as the No. 25 class in 2022. They were listed as a top-five team prior to the announcement that Ed Orgeron wouldn’t be retained beyond the 2021 season.

There is a new regime in town and they have plenty of work to do in order to get this class rolling in the right direction. If the Tigers hope to have a bounce-back season in 2022, they need to find some quality recruits to buy into what the former Notre Dame head coach is selling.

According to The Athletic (subscription required), Brian Kelly and LSU are among the top 10 storylines to watch on early signing day.

Five-star quarterback and LSU commit Walker Howard of Lafayette (La.) St. Thomas More took a visit to Notre Dame after the Tigers moved on from coach Ed Orgeron. There seemed to be a chance that Brian Kelly, then the head coach of the Irish, was going to flip the prized QB recruit.

Then Kelly took the LSU job. Howard is staying put. It’s always good to start a new job with a five-star, in-state quarterback already in the fold.

But what about the rest of the state of Louisiana?

LSU is currently recruiting Mathews, Preston, four-star athlete Kendrick Law of Shreveport Captain Shreve and four-star defensive lineman Quency Wiggins of Baton Rouge (La.) Madison Prep Academy. All four are top-100 players who have yet to issue a commitment.

Kelly presumably took the job because he wanted to build a national title-caliber roster. That starts with Louisana. Can he get off to the right start by landing these four?

The state of Louisiana is a recruiting hotbed as plenty of talent from the state can be seen across the college football landscape. More often than not, the top guys stay home and play for the Purple and Gold. A look at the top 10 guys and where they could be headed as ESP approaches.