Skip Holtz Has Rebuilt Depth at LA Tech
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By not relying heavily on junior college transfers and by limiting the number of misses out of the high school ranks, Louisiana Tech has built a strong nucleus of young talent.
Take a look back at the last three signing classes to get an idea of what Skip Holtz has done to transform the Louisiana Tech roster. Much was made of the 30-something seniors that had walked out that door from the 2012 team and Holtz inherited a very young and inexperienced group. Never one to panic, Holtz took the steady approach of building through the high school ranks.
Of course, Holtz has also used a strategy of saving a few scholarships on signing day and plugging holes with recruits that fell through the cracks or with graduate transfers. This has allowed him to keep young depth in the program while also seeming to always have a strong senior class.
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In the 2014 class, Tech signed only Josh Gaston, Kirby Wixson, David Mahaffey, Blake Sharp, and Sanford Seay out of the junior college ranks. Technically, Mahaffey was brought in late to replace Sharp, who never made it to campus. Only Solomon Hunter, Tywun Walters, and Broderick Jefferson out of the high school signees are no longer with the program. The 2014 class was a very solid class for Holtz that is paying dividends for Holtz this season.
The 2015 class had 23 high school signees and Johnny Shaw and Jamarion Johnson never made it to campus. There is a ton of young depth from the 2015 class that is already starting to make an impact on the field. Ephraim Kitchen is one of Tech’s best cornerbacks and O’Shea Dugas is one of the Bulldogs’ top offensive linemen. Jordan Bradford and Courtney Wallace both have a chance to start and several of the young linebackers and defensive backs have a chance to make the two-deep.
The current junior class only has 16 players on it, and that counts junior college additions Josh Outlaw, Gewhite Slallworth, and Damarion King. Those players were brought in to restore depth to the offensive line and safety positions respectively, and also to balance the classes out a little. The junior class would only have 13 members without them. The rest of the 2016 signing class is made up of almost entirely high school players, with sophomore Keonatye Garner being another junior college addition.
Looking at the classes, graduate transfers Prince Sam, Cyril Noland-Lewis, Dalton Santos, and Jordan Harris give Holtz a total of 18 seniors out of the 85 scholarship spots available. Tech is currently using 82 of those 85 spots [scholarship breakdown here] and only 34 of those players are juniors or seniors. That’s exactly 40% of the total 85 spots on the scholarship roster listed as juniors or seniors.
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There are 19 scholarship sophomores and 29 freshmen and redshirt freshmen on the roster, accounting for 56.5% of the 85 available spots. The young depth in the offensive and defensive lines, as well as the secondary and the wide receivers should give Bulldog fans confidence in the future.
Eleven defensive linemen on the roster are freshmen or sophomores and there are 9 offensive linemen that fit that description. There are 7 linebackers, 6 defensive backs, and 5 receivers listed as sophomores or younger. Tulane transfer Teddy Veal really makes 6 receivers, seeing as he will be a 4th year junior in 2017.
Which group of young offensive linemen will emerge with four seniors needing to be replaced next season? Who out of the 6 freshmen linebackers will step up after Santos, Harris, and Lloyd Grogan graduate?
The good news is there are a ton of players to choose from and plenty of competition to go around. The position battles are good this fall for some of the backup spots and they will be even more contentious next spring when starting jobs are on the line.
If Holtz and Co. bring in another graduate transfer at linebacker or offensive lineman next season, it won’t be too lack of options. He will have the luxury of bringing in the right player that fits his program that can help put his team over the top. He has earned that luxury by building his program with young talent that is almost entirely still on the roster.