LSU will host another target from the Transfer Portal

This past week, the LSU football staff handed out another offer to a Louisiana native in the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Now, the Tigers are set to get the newly-offered target on campus.

On Wednesday, LSU will host Iowa (La.) native Andre Sam for a midweek visit, multiple sources tell The Bengal Tiger staff.

Sam has one year of college eligibility remaining after leaving high school in the 2017 class, then making stops at three colleges across that stretch.

With the Tigers searching to add defensive backs to the mix, Sam is the next name up at safety.

The background on Sam’s path to the portal

Sam signed with McNeese State out of high school, taking a redshirt in 2017 before appearing in three games as a redshirt freshman in 2018.

His breakthrough season came in 2019 when Sam appeared in all 12 games for the Cowboys, making 51 tackles with two tackles for a loss, an interception and six pass break-ups.

Following the cancellation of the season in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, McNeese played a spring schedule, and Sam started all seven games and led the team with 52 tackles and three interceptions.

Sam transferred to Marshall for the 2021 season, and while he saw limited action, he broke through with 53 tackles this past season.

Sam played under former McNeese State head coach Lance Guidry from 2017-18, and Sam linked back up with Guidry at Marshall in 2021 after he took over as defensive coordinator and safeties coach.

When Guidry took the Tulane defensive coordinator job following the 2022 season, Sam transferred back to Louisiana to finish his career with the Green Wave.

But when Guidry pivoted and accepted the defensive coordinators job at Miami in February, Sam re-entered the portal as a graduate transfer.

The outlook at safety for LSU

With Guidry now at Miami, the connections to Sam can’t be overlooked. He signed the Louisiana native out of high school, then went on to coach Sam at both McNeese State and Marshall before he followed him to Tulane this offseason.

Still, LSU will take a swing.

While Sam signed with Guidry and then followed him to two other colleges, the Louisiana native also played for current LSU running backs coach Frank Wilson when Wilson was head coach at McNeese State from 2020-2021.

Those connections have lines of communication open between LSU and the Sam camp, and with a visit for Wednesday on tap, the Tigers have a shot to make a pitch to get him into the program for the 2023 season.

The visit from Sam comes on the heels of LSU recently missing out on offers at safety, a list that includes former Rhode Island safety Antonio Carter and former Michigan safety RJ Moten. Notre Dame landed Carter, while Moten committed to Florida, his father’s alma mater.

LSU has two returning starters at safety in Greg Brooks Jr. and Major Burns, but both were banged up this offseason, and Burns has missed time in back-to-back seasons at LSU. The Tigers also don’t have much proven safety depth beyond the pair, even more so if Sage Ryan continues to work at nickel.

After missing on the safety targets in the portal thus far, all eyes are on Sam’s visit this week. Sources tell The Bengal Tiger staff that in addition to LSU and Miami, some other schools in the mix include Arkansas, Ole Miss and Florida.

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