Coach Geezy in the Big Easy Part III: Legacy | From Bourbon St. to the Bayou

[djp73]

Re: Coach Geezy in the Big Easy Part III: Legacy | From Bourbon St. to the Bayou

that will be interesting!
Purdue going independent?

[Deegeezy]

that will be interesting!
Purdue going independent?

Yes, Purdue will be going independent. What's unique about this version of NCAA, is that Conference movements only come in the form of invites. If a team gets an invitation, the game tells you which team they're being invited to replace.

In 2014, Tulane got an invite to replace Mississippi St. in the SEC.

Notre Dame got an invitation to the Big 10 a season or two ago, but the game wanted them to replace a very good Wisconsin team oddly, so I declined to allow the move. Purdue though, is a 1-star prestige school at this stage who went 1-12 last season, so I decided to let the move pass.

[Deegeezy]

LSU Tigers News Clips

QB Rob Mason is LSU's all-time leading passer with 10,241 passing yards and 78 career passing touchdowns, and hopes to build on those numbers in his senior season next fall.

report courtesy Eve Jewell, ESPN/SEC Network


LSU | QB Rob Mason to return for senior season
Wed, 12 Jan 2028 11:21:10 -0700

Eve Jewell of ESPN's SEC Network reports that LSU QB Rob Mason (83 ovr, pre-progression), who just completed his junior season, will return to Baton Rouge for his senior year next fall. Mason, a former 4-star recruit who ESPN NFL Draft Analyst Todd McShay projected as a likely third round pick in the 2028 NFL Draft, released a statement on his Instagram account to deliver the news:

"There is only one period of time in your life where you get a chance to win a Heisman Trophy, or SEC title, or even a National Title. College football gives you 5 years to play 4 seasons, and I am very pumped up to announce that I plan to exhaust my eligibility and remain at LSU for one more go at this thing. Pro football will still be there for me next year and I am in no hurry to rush life. I love my school, I love my teammates, and I love the program Coach Geezy is installing and I want to finish my career off right."

Mason finished the 2027 season with a career-high 3,806 passing yards and 25 touchdown passes, but will need to improve on the 19 interceptions he threw this past year, his first year under LSU offensive coordinator Anthony High system, who is currently in the running for Auburn's vacant head coaching position. In addition to his contributions in the passing game, the speedy Mason used his 4.4 speed to rush for 443 yards and 6 touchdowns, both career-highs, and even contributed 4 receptions for 62 yards when lined up in the slot on occasion in special packages. Despite his impressive stats and tremendous running ability however, Mason and the Tigers finished 2027 with an 8-5 record for a third consecutive season with him as the team's starting quarterback.

The Gretna, Louisiana native, who was also heavily recruited by Tigers head coach D. Geezy back when he coached at Tulane, will be one of a whopping 9 starters expected to return for LSU's offense next fall, a unit many expect to take a big leap in 2028.




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Click here to view 2027 LSU Tigers Roster

[R1zzo23]

Re: Coach Geezy in the Big Easy Part III: Legacy | From Bourbon St. to the Bayou

Yeah that move makes plenty sense all around.


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[OldHossRadbourn]

Re: Coach Geezy in the Big Easy Part III: Legacy | From Bourbon St. to the Bayou

Yes, Purdue will be going independent. What's unique about this version of NCAA, is that Conference movements only come in the form of invites. If a team gets an invitation, the game tells you which team they're being invited to replace.

In 2014, Tulane got an invite to replace Mississippi St. in the SEC.

Notre Dame got an invitation to the Big 10 a season or two ago, but the game wanted them to replace a very good Wisconsin team oddly, so I declined to allow the move. Purdue though, is a 1-star prestige school at this stage who went 1-12 last season, so I decided to let the move pass.

NCAA loves that ND to the Big10 move. Always has. As a domer I can't stand it because ND sees itself(and always has) as a more Eastern facing school and was more aligned with the Big East and now ACC...but it's a virtual world so we'll have to deal with it.

[Deegeezy]

Yeah that move makes plenty sense all around.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

NCAA loves that ND to the Big10 move. Always has. As a domer I can't stand it because ND sees itself(and always has) as a more Eastern facing school and was more aligned with the Big East and now ACC...but it's a virtual world so we'll have to deal with it.

I think the move to the Big 10 makes better sense geographically and feels like a better natural fit. I really look forward to seeing what Notre Dame does as a conference affiliate with the likes of Ohio St. and Michigan.

The Fighting Irish have been amazing at recruiting the past several years (and going into this off-season, currently hold the #2 recruiting class in the nation), so this should produce some dogfights in that conference moving forward.

This really felt like a nice, natural change of pace and cool subplot for the dynasty overall. It was time.

[Deegeezy]

NCAA News Clips

High led an outstanding LSU offense in 2027 and now hopes to duplicate that success at Auburn.

report courtesy Taylor Bisciotti, ESPN/SEC Network


Auburn | Tigers hire LSU offensive coordinator Anthony High as new H.C.
Thu, 13 Jan 2027 05:21:15 -0700

Taylor Bisciotti of ESPN's SEC Network reports that Auburn University has hired LSU offensive coordinator Anthony High to be the school's new head football coach, poaching a young up-and-comer from their SEC rivals. High, in his only year as LSU's offensive czar, helped turn the Tigers' offense into a force to be reckoned with, as the unit finish ranked 10th in the nation in points per game, averaging 34.7 points per contest.

A former Tulane player under LSU head coach D. Geezy, High won the job over another former Geezy player and coaching protege', current Green Wave defensive coordinator Cameron DeJean. As a quarterback under Geezy, High infamously left Tulane following his one and only year as a full-time starter back in 2015, so his quick departure from LSU does not come as a surprise. After declaring for the draft following his junior season, High went on to be a 6th round pick of the then-Oakland, now-Las Vegas Raiders, but his playing career quickly fizzled out following several brief stints on multiple NFL teams' practice squads.

Bisciotti also reports that High has hired former Tulane defensive coordinator Karl Dunbar to run his defense. Dunbar, who deploys a 3-4 base alignment, did not coach in 2027, one year removed from being fired at mid-season by Geezy during both men's final year at Tulane.

Editor's Note: This coaching change will be manifested by changing Auburn's offensive playbook to Texas A&M (LSU/High's current system) and their defensive playbook to the 3-4 (Dunbar's system).




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Brown gashed his former head coach D. Geezy's LSU squad this past season for 219 yards and a touchdown during Tulane's 49-21 victory over the rival Tigers back in week three of this past season.

report courtesy Eve Jewell, ESPN/SEC Network


Tulane | Star RB Anthony Brown declares for NFL Draft
Fri, 14 Jan 2028 11:06:10 -0700

Eve Jewell of ESPN's SEC Network reports that dynamite Tulane RB Anthony Brown (90 ovr) will skip his senior season and enter the 2028 NFL Draft. Brown, 6-1 207 pounds, finished 10th in the nation with 1,579 rushing yards and scored 11 rushing touchdowns in 2027, helping to lead Tulane offense, which finished ranked #1 in the nation, averaging 44.3 points per game this past season.

Brown, a former Louisiana 4-star recruit under former Green Wave and current LSU head coach D. Geezy, is projected to be a late-first/early-second round pick, according to ESPN NFL Draft Analyst Todd McShay.

The Green Wave will now turn to redshirt senior RB Brian Anthony (83 ovr, pre-progression) and junior RB Teddy Jenkins (80 ovr, pre-progression) to help carry the load in 2028.




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report courtesy Melanie Collins, CBS Sports



NCAA | BCS format extended for the next 20 years
Fri, 14 Jan 2028 13:17:12 -0700

Melanie Collins of CBS Sports reports that the NCAA has ratified legislation that will extend the association's BCS bowl format for the next 20 years. Despite several years of controversy and cries for a College Football Playoff by fans, the extension of the BCS was voted-in unanimously by the NCAA's governing body.

"We truly believe this is the best postseason format we have ever had for college football," said NCAA President Mark Emmert. "As I stated back in December, myself and the board truly feel that this is the way to go and that any type of playoff system will do nothing but slowly devalue the significance of the regular season and the 'other' bowl games. We want all of our bowls to be special, and not going with the College Football Playoff proposal will help preserve that."

The BCS has come under heavy fire in recent years, as teams with similar resumes as BCS title game participants as well as teams with undefeated records have been left out of competing for a national championship. In 2024, Emmert and the NCAA began advising schools to begin scheduling more competitive regular season contests, so that top schools have the opportunity to square-off against one another in regular season action and essentially put their destinies in their own hands, something that has led to stronger regular season matchups in recent years.

"If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best," said Emmert. "I think teams have taken heed to my advice years ago and have stopped scheduling non-competitive games for the most part or at least not as many. This is going to work, and our game will be better for it."




___________________________

Click here to view 2027 LSU Tigers Roster

[Deegeezy]

[Deegeezy]

Monday, January 17, 2028...

LSU Graduating Class of 2027

DT Robert Carrington (#55), DE Lawrence Hicks (#96), DE Joel McFarland (#92), FS Johnnie Smith (#18), and FS Trey Wade (#8) each left it all on the field during their time at LSU.


FS WADE, DEFENSIVE LINE DEPARTURES HEADLINE LSU'S 2027 DEPARTING CLASS
Team set to lose three starters from its defensive line, hopes underclassmen are ready to step up to fill roles | Star defensive back Trey Wade's decision to go to the NFL leaves Tigers' secondary with a gaping hole at free safety | Wade: I got into football for the sole purpose of going to the league; I have done all I can at this level to achieve this goal | Aside from significant defensive losses, team will stay mostly intact heading into 2028, particularly on offense


2027 Departing Players





* - IMPACT player
Starters in BOLD



Click here to view 2027 LSU Tigers Roster

[djp73]

Re: Coach Geezy in the Big Easy Part III: Legacy | From Bourbon St. to the Bayou

Where does Wade rank at his position by overall rating? Odd to see an 81 declare.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Coach Geezy in the Big Easy Part III: Legacy | From Bourbon St. to the Bayou

Ya seeing him leave early and only rated an 81 is weird.


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[Cheese2121]

Re: Coach Geezy in the Big Easy Part III: Legacy | From Bourbon St. to the Bayou

...and I am officially all caught up. Several nights spent relaxing with a nice drink and I am finally back on top of the career of my favorite coach.

Firstly a huge congratulations to your son on all of his real life achievements and for this next chapter of life at LSU. Engineering is an incredible field and will open many doors for him in the future. You have to be very proud of him.

Now down to business...not exactly the first season I was hoping for at LSU but also not all that surprising. The midseason success definitely made it that much harder when reality came crashing back down at the end of the season. I think many have touched on it but consistency is the biggest problem I see here. Whenever you are having that many lucky/close games, it is going to catch up eventually and it is not sustainable in a conference like the SEC week in and week out.

I think the biggest disappointment for me in the season (aside from the Tulane game for personal reasons of course) was the bowl finish. Wisconsin may have been a slightly better team on paper but not that much better. It leaves a bitter taste in the mouth for the offseason.

Looking ahead, I will be curious to see what you do with the offense with High bolting to Auburn (nice plot seed planted and cultivated there). I assume this means a playbook change is in your future. It will be interesting to see how much you continue to build around a mobile quarterback when the future looks more to be a pocket passer after "White Mike" departs.

Overall, you know I am absolutely loving every minute of this and am so excited to be keeping up now on a post to post basis. Always my best my good friend.

[Deegeezy]

Where does Wade rank at his position by overall rating? Odd to see an 81 declare.

Ya seeing him leave early and only rated an 81 is weird.


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100% agree with ya'll, but honestly it isn't the first time I have seen it happen. I have had guys in the low-80s declare, and even had a guy in the mid-70s declare once after just one year as a starter (it was Anthony High - I'd call it ironic, but I guess this probably doesn't qualify as irony since I essentially control the coaching storyline lol).

There's a good 20 free safeties or so rated higher than Trey Wade is. I get it that he won the awards or whatever and also put up great stats, but I do wish a little more work was put into the game's NFL Draft declaration algorithm.

I will just pretend that the kid just got some bad advice, but it has certainly left a very gaping hole in an already-thin secondary.

...and I am officially all caught up. Several nights spent relaxing with a nice drink and I am finally back on top of the career of my favorite coach.

Firstly a huge congratulations to your son on all of his real life achievements and for this next chapter of life at LSU. Engineering is an incredible field and will open many doors for him in the future. You have to be very proud of him.

Now down to business...not exactly the first season I was hoping for at LSU but also not all that surprising. The midseason success definitely made it that much harder when reality came crashing back down at the end of the season. I think many have touched on it but consistency is the biggest problem I see here. Whenever you are having that many lucky/close games, it is going to catch up eventually and it is not sustainable in a conference like the SEC week in and week out.

I think the biggest disappointment for me in the season (aside from the Tulane game for personal reasons of course) was the bowl finish. Wisconsin may have been a slightly better team on paper but not that much better. It leaves a bitter taste in the mouth for the offseason.

Looking ahead, I will be curious to see what you do with the offense with High bolting to Auburn (nice plot seed planted and cultivated there). I assume this means a playbook change is in your future. It will be interesting to see how much you continue to build around a mobile quarterback when the future looks more to be a pocket passer after "White Mike" departs.

Overall, you know I am absolutely loving every minute of this and am so excited to be keeping up now on a post to post basis. Always my best my good friend.

Cheese...man you have no idea how missed you have been on this forum. The place just ain't the same without Cheese browsing the boards and also adding content to the EMU thread. You're a legend at this, and I hold you in the same regard as some of the other all-time greats at this - shout-out to Hellisan and BDAWG35, just to name a couple.

Glad to hear you're all caught up, and the kind words about my son are much appreciated. He really makes my wife and I proud every day. He graduated from high school a couple of weeks back; I'll never forget the proud moment of watching 400 kids walk-out for a graduation but seeing your kid be one of about 20 students that sat on the stage with all their Magna Cum Laude, National Honors Society, Advanced Studies, etc. garb on their gowns. What an experience. But all that said, as you mentioned, it is time to get down to the true, real life business -

8-5 is definitely not what I had in mind for year one at LSU, despite the obvious weaknesses on the roster and gauntlet of a schedule. I really thought that Rob Mason would outright will us to more wins; even a 9-4 year just sounds a lot better than 8-5.

The Arkansas loss and the Wisconsin loss are the two that standout to me the most as "ones we let get away," with the latter being the most regrettable. I didn't report on it, since I classify it as too "video-gamey," but that bowl loss I believe directly cost me a prestige star, dropping us down to a 3-star school. As you're aware, that will have ramifications in two areas in particular - player progression and recruiting. It'll be interesting to see if we can recover there, especially in a year coming up in which our 2029 recruiting class needs to be 20+ players.

I was hoping you'd come back to the board in time to see the Anthony High plot evolve. It honestly wasn't something I thought about until after the Wisconsin game. The Texas A&M playbook honestly just never clicked for me, and him bolting us after one year of mild success shouldn't be much of a surprise for the long-time readers such as you, since it was foreshadowed some 12 seasons ago when he left school early, out of the blue; the guy just can't seem to sit still for long.

I know you'll also appreciate our next hire though, which you'll see momentarily.

Thankfully, after Rob Mason, we'll have at least one more year with a mobile quarterback, as our backup Matt Harris (78 ovr, 81 speed - pre-progression) is patiently waiting in the wings for his redshirt senior year in 2029. The key for Rob next year will be cutting down on the mistakes and turnovers. Coming off a year in which I had over a 4 to 1 TD to INT ratio with Tulane's Jimmy McBride (42 tds, 10 ints), needless to say, I was highly disappointed with how this past season went.

Once again, glad you're back on the boards sir, and also that you seem to be prospering from a personal standpoint.

[Deegeezy]

Wednesday, January 19, 2028 | |

Bryce Allen, now age 26, played quarterback for LSU head coach D. Geezy at Tulane from 2021-2024.


Former Tulane QB Bryce Allen named LSU's new offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach following the sudden departure of Anthony High

Though young and fairly inexperienced, former blue chip quarterback spent past three seasons in coaching following failure to land with NFL team | As Wave's quarterbacks coach in 2027, Allen helped guide his pupil and former teammate Jimmy McBride to a career-best 43 touchdown passes for a Tulane offense that was the nation's best in scoring | Hiring of Allen follows familiar script for LSU head coach D. Geezy, who remains loyal to his former players in the coaching ranks

By Jordan Hebert, LSUSports.net


Seven years ago, a 19-year old blue chip prospect from Colorado became one of LSU head coach D. Geezy's prized signings during the 2021 off-season and eventually a long-time starter at Tulane. Fast forward to today, and now Bryce Allen has become a fairly young but mature 26-year old man who will be running LSU's offense alongside his former head coach and mentor, as the school announced in a Tuesday afternoon press conference that Allen will be the Tigers' new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Allen replaces Anthony High, who just last week left LSU to become the new head coach at Auburn.

Allen had problems with injuries throughout his college playing career, and after playing in only three games in his senior year, found landing an NFL roster spot very difficult as a result, so he got into coaching.

"I cannot tell you how excited I am to be announcing Bryce as our new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach," said Geezy, who indicated that play-calling will be a joint-venture between himself and Allen.

"Coach Allen is someone that, behind the scenes, was a coach on the field and an absolute film junkie for us at Tulane. He will bring a lot of knowledge into our offensive meeting room and in the quarterback room, and will also be loyal to our program and our school and stick around for awhile," Geezy added in what some may call a shot at High, who left LSU to go coach at its rival Auburn after only one season in Baton Rouge.

Allen, who was Tulane's opening day starter in each of his four seasons with the Green Wave, had a somewhat up-and-down career as a player, a career that was marred by several injuries. After missing the final five games of his junior season in 2023, a shoulder injury suffered in week one of 2024 along with an abdominal injury suffered in week 10 later that year limited Allen to only three games in his final season with the Wave, and he ended up going undrafted in the 2025 NFL Draft as a direct result.

Allen would go on to work as a graduate assistant at Ole Miss from 2025-2026 before joining Tulane's coaching staff this past fall as the team's quarterbacks coach. In New Orleans last season, he helped guide Green Wave star quarterback and likely top 5 NFL Draft pick Jimmy McBride to a season for the ages, as the 5-11 209 pound signal caller completed 70.3% of his passes for 43 touchdowns and only 9 interceptions, all career-bests. The Green Wave finished 2027 ranked first in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 44.3 points per game. Allen hopes to bring that level of efficiency to Baton Rouge next season.

"First of all, I'd just like to thank Coach D. Geezy for giving me this incredible opportunity," said Allen at his introductory press conference. "I was a little annoyed a year ago when he said it, but I must admit, Coach D was absolutely right; the minute you step foot on this campus, you realize just how much bigger football is here in Baton Rouge. Coach has always been great to me and stuck by my side through good times and bad, and I plan to return the favor to him and be here for a good while to help him turn this program back into the best in the state."

"I'd also like to thank (Green Wave head coach) Joe Roberts and the Tulane coaching staff for helping me hone my skills. Coach Roberts played a big part in setting me up with the G.A. job at Ole Miss then welcomed me with open arms back at my alma mater Tulane even though I technically never played for him. So for that, I am thankful; but with that said, I am very excited to be a Tiger now and to be back with Coach D.

When asked about the type of system's he's going to deploy, Allen indicated that most of the West Coast principles LSU utilized under High would remain similar, but with a few tweaks.

Arguably the biggest moment of Allen's playing career under Geezy came in 2021 as a true freshman, when he guided Tulane to an SEC Championship and threw a walk-off touchdown pass to former Wave great and LSU nemesis Ryan Jean to win the Sugar Bowl over West Virginia 37-34 in OT.

"The playbook will remain largely the same, however one of the things I have always talked about is the importance of tight ends in an offense," said Allen. We have a great one in Lucas Rodgers (81 ovr, pre-progression, but we also have a young player in redshirt freshman Juice (Julius) Broussard (74 ovr, pre-progression) who I want to get involved heavily. Having one tight end is good, but if you have two that can be threats, it really changes the overall complexion and flexibility of an offense.

"I also want to get RB Scottie Rodgers more involved in the passing game, a lot more. We're going to see him catch a lot of passes out of the backfield just like last year, however you're also going to see him lined up out wide and in the slot way more often to help take advantage of his tremendous route-running skills, something I saw him do a lot of on tape in the Gator Bowl a few weeks ago in Florida.

"Most importantly though, we have to get QB Rob Mason playing more efficiently. Last year, he only completed 52.1% of his passes and he's always been in that range throughout his career. If we can get him closer to 60 to 65%, then that changes our offense."

The hiring of Allen marks the latest in a long line of former players Geezy has hired, something he is not afraid to admit is a point of emphasis for him personally.

"Some may describe me as loyal to a fault, but I think it is important to continue to make an impact in your players' lives long after you've stopped coaching them on the field," said Geezy. "On our staff right now we have two of my former players - Allen and (linebackers coach) Mark Richards.

"I also have former players coaching against me for rivals within our own division - Tulane head coach Joe Roberts and his defensive coordinator Cam DeJean, along with Auburn's latest head coaching hire, Anthony High.

"It gives me great joy to watch these young men grow up and make names for themselves and to know that you've made a positive impact on their lives. But now, I gotta go out and show them who their daddy is," Geezy said to laughter in the media room, marking the conclusion of the press conference.

Editor's Note:

This staffing change will be manifested video game-wise by me changing my team's offensive playbook from "Texas A&M" to "Ole Miss," which is the system Tulane has used to great success each of the past three seasons, both with Coach Geezy (2025-2026) and without (2027). Also, depending on situation and circumstance, I will vow to use "Ask Coach" every so often to simulate the idea of Coach Geezy and Coach Allen sharing play-calling duties, as indicated in the story above. Lastly, as a call-back to Allen's comments that were made on the day he committed to Tulane as a recruit, expect a lot more tight end involvement in the offense moving forward.

LSU'S PLAYBOOK BEFORE:



LSU'S PLAYBOOK AFTER:

[djp73]

Re: Coach Geezy in the Big Easy Part III: Legacy | From Bourbon St. to the Bayou

Always love the under the hood details, something I've hoped to add to my 'nasty.