One day last summer, an LSU staffer came into Ed Orgeron's office to ask if the recruits then on campus for a visit were allowed to watch practice. What practice? We don't hold practice over the summer, Orgeron said.
The practice was being run by the players, he was told. As it turns out, quarterback Joe Burrow had issued an alert to his teammates: practice in the morning. To a man, the roster that would run through an unbeaten, championship-winning season showed up.
LSU is Ed Orgeron's program. But last year's Tigers were Joe Burrow's team. Orgeron was only too happy to cede the day-to-day policing to his senior captain, who would put together one of the finest seasons by a quarterback in Bowl Subdivision history in becoming the heavy favorite to go No.