Moffitt excited to be a wanted man by LSU
Baton Rouge (La.) Catholic defensive end Aaron Moffitt is no stranger to the LSU football program.
The son of LSU’s strength and conditioning coach Tommy Moffitt grew up with a unique insider’s perspective. Furthermore, his close friend and high school teammate Ben Miles happens to be the son of LSU’s head coach Les Miles.
But it was a new defensive coordinator Dave Aranda -- a coach that Moffitt hasn’t even talked with yet – who made one of the biggest internal pitches to offer him a scholarship at LSU’s “Boys from the Boot” recruiting event.
“Coach (Cam) Cameron said that once Coach Aranda got here, he became more involved in the recruiting,” Moffitt said. “He started to really like me. Coach Cameron told me at one point (Aranda) was standing up on top of the table wanting to offer me. He thinks I can play a big role in their defense. At Wisconsin, there are a bunch of big old dudes playing the defensive line. He’s a young guy and I think he’s perfect for LSU.”
After going through the “Boys from the Boot” activities with the other recruits, Moffitt said that Miles brought him into his office to make the offer.
“We were talking about our season and how we won state,” Moffitt said. “Then he told me he was offering me a scholarship. It was an exciting moment for me because I grew up here. LSU has always been such a great school in my eyes -- all the great players who came out of this college. I finally have the opportunity to eventually play there. It was just awesome.
“I looked at my dad and he smiled back at me. We were silent for a little bit, then Coach Miles said, ‘Yeah, we want you on our team.’”
The moment was a little surreal.
“I’ve known Coach Miles for 12 years and me and his son Ben are best friends and have played baseball and football for a while now,” he said. “I know him well, but it was a little different when he offered me a scholarship. I’ll be at his house just hanging around with his family. I know him at their house as Ben’s dad and I have respect for him there. But definitely around LSU I know him as Coach Miles.”
Moffitt later heard the same message from defensive line coach Ed Orgeron, who told him several times that LSU offered simply because he was good player.
“He said, ‘We offered you because you’re a good player for our defense,’” Moffitt said.
After batting an elbow injury and broken finger, Moffitt (6-3, 252) played his first season of prep football in 2015 and rapidly made up for lost time.
“I think I do well covering the edge on run plays,” he said. “I’m a great run stuffer. The first few seconds off the ball could be a little better and I could always get faster. But for my weight as a 252-pound defensive end at my age, I think I’m very quick.”
Moffitt enjoyed a breakout performance with six sacks against Teurlings in his fourth game and finished with 14 sacks, around 60 tackles and four forced fumbles.
“I was all-district, all-metro and all-state,” he said. “I was the only junior on the defense for the Louisiana Football Coaches Association all-state.”
Moffitt said he suffered a torn labrum in the sixth game but finished the season as part of Catholic’s state championship run.
“I had surgery after the state game,” he said. “I had surgery on New Year’s Eve. I’ll miss spring but be back when summer comes around.”
Moffitt owns offers from Ball State, Colorado State, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana Tech, Texas-San Antonio, Nicholls State. He’s also hearing from Vanderbilt, Virginia and TCU.
“I think I’m going to go to a few junior days coming up,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to go check out other places because the only place I know is LSU.”
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