Yesterday evening, LSU players BJ Ojulari, Ali Gaye, and Mike Jones Jr. were named LSU team captains as LSU head coach Brian Kelly made the announcement after practice.
The three players were selected via vote by their teammates. All three defensive players will be named as team captains in every game of the 2022 season. There is also an added bonus as Coach Kelly will award an offensive player every week as the fourth team captain.
BJ Ojulari was already selected to represent the team’s coveted number 18 jersey this season, and now, he is one of the three team captains for the Tigers. Ojulari will enter his second year as a starter after having an incredibly productive 2021 season with 11 sacks and 16.5 tackles for loss. Ojulari is also a preseason All-SEC and All-American candidate for the Tigers.
Ali Gaye is a recent LSU graduate and represents everything a student athlete stands for on and off the field. He has also been one of the Tigers’ most productive, veteran leaders on this football team entering his third year as a starter with 51 tackles, 12.0 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks in 14 career games played.
The third team captain chosen by his teammates is linebacker Mike Jones Jr., who transferred to LSU at the beginning of last year from Clemson, and caught on for the Tigers towards the end of the season with 34 tackles and a sack in five starts. Already a graduate at Clemson, Jones will be one of the defensive leaders entering his fifth year playing college football.
At the SEC Teleconference, I asked Coach Kelly about those three guys being named as team captains and what played in the decision to name a different offensive team captain for every game this season. This was his response.
“They were the top three vote getters among the team though all are on the defense. The offensive votes were kind of scattered with 15 players all getting votes on that side of the ball. By doing it this way, the guys get a chance to build leadership and have an opportunity to represent the offense.”
Brian Kelly
More notes from Coach Kelly at the SEC Teleconference will be posted on Gridiron Football USA so be sure to check back here with us later today.
