Yahoo Finance K'Lavon Chaisson tells hilarious story about Ed Orgeron's persistence on the recruiting trail
Ed Orgeron has a reputation for being a relentless recruiter, and that reputation has long preceded his time as the head coach at LSU.
K’Lavon Chaisson, one of the stars of LSU’s 2019 run to the national championship, gave an example of Orgeron’s persistence on the recruiting trail during an interview with Pro Football Talk at the NFL scouting combine.
Chaisson, a four-star recruit from Houston who’s become one of the top edge rushers in the 2020 NFL draft, said he thought he was going to commit to Texas until Orgeron turned things up a notch.
Chaisson said he told Orgeron that he couldn’t fit him in for the home visit because he was headed out on an early-morning flight for an official visit to the University of Florida. But Orgeron wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
Confirmed by @S4CKGURU — Coach O is a legend #gotigers @ProFootballTalk @Coach_EdOrgeron @LSUfootball pic.twitter.com/OCYX6Lvpsy
— Chris Simms (@CSimmsQB) March 1, 2020
“I was like, ‘Coach we don’t have time for a home visit. We’re about to head out.’ Man, he came to my house at four in the morning knocking on the door while everybody’s asleep. He made sure he got his visit in,” Chaisson said.
But it didn’t stop there. Orgeron followed Chaisson to the airport and continued making his pitch for LSU.
“He literally followed me to the airport and walked me all the way through TSA and was like, ‘Bro, we got to have you. Please. I know what to do with you,’” Chaisson said.
Orgeron’s passion made all the difference for Chaisson. The fact that LSU was the first school to offer him a scholarship — before he even played a down of varsity football — played a role in his decision to play in Baton Rouge, too.
“I felt like if any coach is going to do all of that, it’s definitely more than a job to him. It’s personal,” Chaisson said.
Chaisson made an impact right away for the Tigers, tallying 27 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks as a freshman. An injury limited him to just one game in 2018, but he came back in a big way in 2019. Chaisson was a key cog on the Tigers’ defense en route to a perfect season and national title.
Chaisson finished the year with 60 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks and could end up being a first-round draft choice in April.
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