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LSU's RB coach 'expecting big things' from Leonard Fournette; updates QB battle
Leonard Fournette came into his freshman season with an unprecedented amount of hype for a football player headed into the nation's toughest conference.
FOX Sports' Bruce Feldman, while making his annual bold predictions prior to the 2014 season, even went so far as to say he would win the Heisman his freshman year. While others dubbed Fournette the "LeBron of football".
Fournette failed to live up to those lofty predictions early on, but as he grew more comfortable with the college game, he began to shine for the Tigers. Despite his early season struggles, Fournette still set the LSU freshman rushing record with 1,034 yards on the ground and nearly carried the team to victory against Notre Dame in the Music City Bowl with 143 yards on 11 carries and 121 return yards for a combined three touchdowns.
Sounds like Fournette was just warming up. His head coach Les Miles was recently quoted as saying Fournette had gotten, "lighter, faster and stronger."
ESPN recently spoke to the LSU running back coach Frank Wilson, who gave a more in-depth update on his star runner.
"You look at where (Fournette has) come from, we knew who he was and what he was and we knew it would take time," Wilson said. "(Fournette) had great leadership with Kenny Hilliard and Terrence Magee a year ago, and we knew it was only a matter of time before he understood the game inside out. At the back end of the season, he got it and he really just started to come on. He had an outstanding spring and we're expecting big things from him this year."
If Fournette continues his progression, he may just earn that Heisman Trophy yet.
Wilson was also asked about the latest with the quarterback battle under way at LSU.
"They've done well. They've both developed. They matured their leadership skills more than anything; their ability to be able to recognize defenses and pinpoint the ball with accuracy," Wilson said. "Brandon came on really strong and everybody thought, 'Oh, it's his job,' and Anthony fought back. It's one of the reasons that we recruited him, because he showed that type of perseverance and ability to compete. So we like where we're at at the quarterback position, and we anticipate it could go all the way down to the wire."
(h/t ESPN)
