Zach Nuñez
Writer/Podcaster
Zach Nunez has a degree in broadcast journalism from LSU. After working at Tiger TV and interning at WWL-TV in New Orleans, he spent two years as a sports anchor and reporter at KPLC in Lake Charles. He now co-hosts Geaux Deep Dive alongside David Billiot Jr.
Lane Kiffin sat in his office with Big Cat and PFT Commenter for Pardon My Take’s annual Grit Week series. PFT jokingly asked Kiffin, “Have you gotten to meet and know Mike the Tiger yet?” Kiffin briefly explained trying to have “a moment” with Mike before the conversation quickly pivoted. “That is really why we need Coach O,” Kiffin said. Kiffin’s lighthearted attempt to connect with Mike the Tiger landed because it pointed to something real: LSU had lost a piece of its soul. Mike is more than a mascot. He’s the living symbol of the program’s unique Bayou culture, the unmistakable cultural heartbeat Ed Orgeron once brought every day with his “one team, one heartbeat” energy that made the program feel truly alive. Say what you want about the way things ended between 2020 and 2021. Based on sourced information I won’t get into here, I’d argue much of the public perception surrounding Orgeron’s exit misses the full picture. Binder in hand, Orgeron built the greatest team in college football history, an achievement that never seemed fully appreciated by LSU’s leadership at the time. Brian Kelly was brought in to “steady the ship.” In some ways, he did. LSU remained competitive and relevant nationally. But in other ways, Kelly’s tenure slowly chipped away at the culture and identity that made LSU football unique. Over four seasons, Kelly often said the right things publicly, but in true politician form, his actions rarely matched his words. The result was a gradual erosion of the program’s identity and growing apathy within a fan base that prides itself on passion and pride. Eventually, that disconnect led to Kelly’s reported $54 million exit from Baton Rouge. In a separate Grit Week interview, Orgeron was blunt about why that disconnect happened. When asked about Kelly’s infamous first appearance on the basketball court, Coach O didn’t hesitate: “It’s over, he ain’t got a chance. If you try to be somebody you ain’t, they are going to smell it from a mile away.” It felt fitting that Frank Wilson stepped in as interim head coach, describing the opportunity as “answering the call of Mother University.” Wilson understood what LSU was supposed to be because he lived it, as a Louisiana native and as a longtime assistant deeply embedded in the fabric of the program. That is not to diminish the work he did during his second stint at LSU, but at times Wilson felt like a bridge to the culture Kelly never fully embraced. He helped keep the program tethered to its Louisiana roots while Kelly attempted to reshape LSU in his own political and calculated image. When Wilson later departed for Ole Miss and LSU hired Kevin Smith to coach running backs, Kiffin, general manager Billy Glasscock, and the rest of the staff did an admirable job holding together the recruiting class and stabilizing the roster. Orgeron alluded to assisting with this by speaking to families of recruits around signing day, pulling them back to the program they always wanted. Still, something was missing. This is not to suggest LSU lacked coaches with Louisiana ties, but the program lacked a singular embodiment of its identity. It lacked the unmistakable face of Bayou culture. It lacked Ed Orgeron. Orgeron understood the deep pull better than most. He added that 99 percent of players born in Louisiana at some point dreamed of running through those H-style goal posts in Tiger Stadium and becoming a Tiger. “You just have to recapture it.” In that same interview, Orgeron laid out exactly what he brings back to Baton Rouge. “It’s an energy you just can’t match at other places,” he said of LSU. He recounted the advice he gave Kiffin: “That’s what I told Lane, ‘Recruit them.’ They’re going to be there for you through thick and thin. The guy before (you) didn’t do it. You cannot disassociate yourself with these people because this is their life.” Coach O knows that truth because he was born with it. “I was raised in the state of Louisiana,” he said. “Nobody ever had to tell me about the expectations at LSU. I got it.” That’s the culture he’s always understood: “That’s what makes this state, the people. They don’t come here to see the mosquitoes, the humidity and the alligators, it’s because of the people and the culture… LSU makes the state of Louisiana and everybody loves the LSU Tigers.” Kiffin needs someone who can immediately strengthen relationships between a largely new staff and high school coaches across Louisiana. In an era dominated by transfer portal mercenaries and transactional roster building, LSU also needs someone capable of reigniting genuine passion inside the building. That is what Orgeron brings. He is a motivator. A recruiter. A culture builder. A general who has stood on the front lines in Death Valley and experienced LSU at both its highest highs and its lowest lows. Now, as special assistant to recruiting and defense, Orgeron returns without the burdens that come with being a head coach. No administrative distractions. No CEO responsibilities. Instead, he can focus entirely on the qualities that made him so valuable in the first place: relationships, energy, intensity, and a forever love for LSU. Follow Zach
NFL Draft slides are fairly common for individual players. Shedur Sanders, Aaron Rodgers, Brady Quinn, Laremy Tunsil, Maurice Hurst Jr., and Jake Butt all serve as examples from my conscious lifetime that highlight large draft slides for one reason or another. I cannot, however, remember numerous players from a single team falling as much as this year’s crop of LSU draftees did in the 2026 NFL Draft. Granted, the 2025 Tigers finished 7-6, but it did not seem like anyone doubted the talent of LSU (outside of the offensive line) until the draft rolled around this year. Watching this crop of Tiger talent slide as much as they did, to put it lightly, felt like Christmas as a kid. You enjoy some family time and smaller gifts on Christmas Eve, but the real excitement waits for Christmas morning. The problem is you struggle to fall asleep on Christmas Eve, knowing Santa will not come until you do. You toss and turn, pleading for morning to arrive, but no matter what you try, sleep will not come. Eventually exhaustion wins, you drift off, and you wake up to the good stuff. The whole process drags on far longer than it should. To continue with the comparison, here is my recap and analysis of the gifts: Round 1, Pick 6: CB Mansoor Delane to the Kansas City Chiefs 2025 Stats: 45 total tackles, 28 solo, 11 PBUs, 2 INTs; First-Team All-SEC, Unanimous All-American. In the predraft process, I highlighted the Saints, Commanders, Chiefs, and Rams as the best fits and most likely landing spots for Delane. An elite talent in the secondary like Delane was never going to make it past No. 13 after being a unanimous All-American. With corner needs for three of those four teams built to compete in 2026, it felt like no matter where he went, he would be set up in a good system. Ultimately, after trading Trent McDuffie to Los Angeles, Kansas City traded up ahead of New Orleans and Washington, from pick No. 9 to No. 6, and drafted Delane to likely be their CB1 of the future. This is a great fit for Delane, as he will not only make top-10 pick money but will also be in the Super Bowl picture as long as Patrick Mahomes is under center. Delane will certainly face some challenges, though, as Kansas City will see quite a few high-powered offenses. As Saints fans are well aware, Steve Spagnuolo’s blitz scheme can occasionally leave defensive backs on an island. Delane, being as talented and hungry as he is, should be willing and able to stand up to the challenge of facing numerous high-powered offenses in the regular season and what feels like an inevitable postseason matchup with the Bills. Round 3, Pick 14 (78 overall): S A.J. Haulcy to the Indianapolis Colts 2025 Stats: 49 total tackles, 39 solo, 0.5 TFL, 4 PBUs, 1 FF, 3 INTs; First-Team All-SEC, First-Team All-American. Admittedly, Indy wasn’t on my radar for A.J. Haulcy, but you have to love how much they are investing in the secondary. Pairing Haulcy with the likes of Sauce Gardner, the Colts’ pseudo first-rounder, should be fun to watch for years to come. Haulcy should transition well to Lou Anarumo’s defense, as it plays more of a week-to-week, adaptive style that should suit Haulcy’s mixed skill set of run-stopping and ball-hawking. Haulcy should get ample opportunity to get on the field in 2026 and make an immediate impact on a Colts team that looked playoff-bound until the injury to Daniel Jones. Round 3, Pick 25 (89 overall): WR Zavion Thomas to the Chicago Bears 2025 Stats: 41 rec., 488 yds., 4 TDs; 19 rush, 99 yds., 1 TD; 18 PR for 153 yds.; 1 KR for 22 yds. Because Chicago took Thomas fairly ahead of his projection, I did not get the chance to put out my best fits for him. You can point to the 4.28 40 at the combine as a reason for the rise in stock. While I do love the idea of Caleb Williams throwing to Zavion Thomas, I will be curious to see where Thomas factors into a WR room that has other young, highly drafted players like Rome Odunze (2024 first-rounder), Luther Burden (2025 second-rounder), and Kalif Raymond, who, having come to Chicago from Detroit, has a good bit of familiarity with head coach Ben Johnson. Johnson, being the scheme guru he is, will surely find ways to incorporate Thomas into the offense, and he will have a chance to be the punt and kick returner for the Bears. Johnson’s offenses often use well-designed motion concepts, which should be a seamless transition for Thomas, considering that is how he was often utilized in the 2025 LSU offense. Round 6, Pick 4 (185 overall): TE Bauer Sharp to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2025 Stats: 24 rec., 252 yds., 8 TDs. Due to his history as a QB at Southeastern, my ideal spot for Bauer Sharp would have been Denver, just to see Sean Payton try to recreate the magic he had with Taysom Hill in New Orleans. Despite not getting running back snaps, Sharp reminds me more of Hill than I (and I’m sure many others) would like to admit, obviously just a tad slower. I did, however, have Tampa on my list for how they usually seem to have some success scouting and developing talent at the tight end position. He was and is a work in progress, being relatively new to the position. Sharp will have time to hone his skills behind Cade Otton and potentially compete for a TE2 or TE3 role. Sharp may not get that starting role in 2026, but as the NFL shifts further toward more 12-personnel year by year, if he competes well in camp and the preseason, he could find himself on the field a decent amount. Round 6, Pick 9 (190 overall): WR Barion Brown to the New Orleans Saints 2025 Stats: 53 rec., 532 yds., 1 TD; 3 rush, 33 yds.; 1 PR for 6 yds.; 15 KR for 445 yds., 1 TD. For the first time since 2018, when New Orleans selected offensive lineman Will Clapp, the Saints have drafted an LSU Tiger. Saints GM Mickey Loomis even played into the joke in his post-draft press conference, saying, “I didn’t trade up, and I took an LSU player so there shouldn’t be any questions.” I’ll start with the bad here: The Saints used a first-round pick on Arizona State WR Jordyn Tyson and a fourth-round pick on North Dakota State WR Bryce Lance. Add to that Chris Olave, Ja’Lynn Polk, Trey Palmer, and other veterans, and New Orleans has a crowded WR room. Brown will have to scratch and claw for every snap on offense, which, having seen it in flashes at LSU, he is capable of working his way into the rotation. Brown will, however, provide second-year QB Tyler Shough with another option to stretch the defense downfield with his 4.40 speed. Where Brown will make the biggest impact early on in New Orleans is in the return game, and he should provide a much-needed spark, as he has three times the number of return touchdowns in college as the Saints do in the same time frame (six to two). Round 6, Pick 34 (215 overall): LB/Edge Harold Perkins Jr. to the Atlanta Falcons 2025 Stats: 55 total tackles, 26 solo, 8 TFLs, 3 PBUs, 4 sacks, 1 FF, 3 INTs; Third-Team All-SEC. As the trending topic around Harold Perkins Jr. during the draft was something along the lines of, “If you told me during his freshman year that Perk would get drafted in the sixth round, I would never have believed you.” His production (likely due to injuries) had fallen off at LSU year over year, but the talent was never deniable. Everyone knew he could be an absolute game-wrecker. This is what made his fall from projection to actual draft slot surprising. What did not make it surprising was the ever-looming question around him from the very beginning: “What position does he actually play in the NFL?” LB? Edge rusher? Star? I think the answer is still unclear. What is clear is that if you put Harold Perkins on the field, he is going to make plays. That is why the Atlanta Falcons took him. Falcons DC Jeff Ulbrich will find a spot for him, more than likely filling the hole left by former (and once again current) New Orleans Saint Kaden Elliss, who I can see as a very similar style of player. Another avenue to consider for Perkins is that Falcons 2025 first-rounder James Pearce Jr. has found himself involved in some legal trouble, so Perkins could potentially fill that role on the edge if the legal processes linger. The knock on Perkins as an edge was always his size, but with his 4.38 40 speed, I can almost guarantee that offensive tackles will have a hard time containing him. Whatever role Perkins finds himself in for Atlanta, he will make plays. Round 7, Pick 33 (249 overall): QB Garrett Nussmeier to the Kansas City Chiefs 2025 Stats: 194-288, 67.4 completion %, 1,927 yds., 12 TDs, 5 INTs, 133.8 rating. I really should have just put his 2024 stats up there, but I had to stick to the formula I had been using, because the past 365 days for Garrett Nussmeier in terms of his football career could not have gone much worse. Injuries and poor offensive play-calling derailed what could have been an early first-round draft pick for Nussmeier. The abdominal/oblique injury that greatly hindered his performance was followed by his benching for said injury, only to find out there was a cyst on his spine making the pain worse. Even with the pain continuously subsiding and Nussmeier seemingly finding his form again in the predraft process, and a 2-3 week recovery time if surgery were deemed necessary to remove the cyst, teams still did not want to spend a pick on the LSU signal-caller until Andy Reid agreed to take the project in the seventh round. A once first-round prospect a year ago, to likely a Day 2 guy a few weeks ago, dropped all the way to the seventh round. Ideally, I would have liked to see Nussmeier get drafted by a team like Pittsburgh, Arizona, Minnesota, or Indianapolis, who may have more QB questions than answers, somewhere he could compete for the starting job from Day 1. Unfortunately, that was not the case, but the bright side to not being in a QB room where he can win the starting job (because let’s be honest, no one in the world is going to take the starting job from Patrick Mahomes) is that he will get to learn under Andy Reid, one of the best offensive minds in football, and from Mahomes, who profiles in a similar gunslinger mold as Nussmeier. The best thing he can do now is learn, develop, show out when he gets the chance, and maybe see his trade value spike so someone will take a chance on him. Undrafted Free Agent Tracker and a Few Quick Notes WR Aaron Anderson signs with the Cleveland Browns — Not a bad landing spot. Cleveland needed some help at receiver, but he will have to fight his way up the depth chart. WR Chris Hilton Jr. signs with the Washington Commanders — Really like this for Hilton. Reunite with Jayden Daniels and stay healthy. The Commanders’ WR room outside of Terry McLaurin is not really lighting the world on fire. Some potential to make some noise. EDGE Jack Pyburn signs with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Nice to see him return to his home state. Familiarity with 3-4 defense. May carve his path as a special teams contributor with the occasional defensive snap early on. DT Bernard Gooden signs with the Cleveland Browns — Quite a few former UDFA guys would be ahead of him on the depth chart going into the preseason, but if he returns to his form from USF, he could make some noise. LB West Weeks signs with the Indianapolis Colts — Decent spot for him. Zone-heavy defense. Has his work cut out for him in terms of rising up the depth chart, but he can earn his spot on special teams. IOL Josh Thompson signs with the Kansas City Chiefs — Following Nuss to KC. They need all the competition on the OL they can get to make sure they are keeping Mahomes healthy after last year. DT Jacobian Guillory signs with the Los Angeles Chargers — Was a really good prospect coming out of high school. I know many players are, but I still see the vision with him. The 3-4 system does not offer a clear path, but like I said, I still see the vision. Unsigned: Edge Patrick Payton Edge Jimari Butler K Damian Ramos Make sure to follow Zach Nunez on X