By Ragan Gainey
LSU Sports Information
It’s no easy task to be a part of one of the top defensive lines in the nation. Going through multiple series of blood, sweat and tears would be more accurate. In their last home appearance as LSU Fighting Tigers, Melvin Oliver, Claude Wroten, Brandon Washington and Kyle Williams of the senior defensive line take time to reflect on their LSU careers, teamwork and camaraderie, leadership and the jumble of emotions surrounding their grand finale.
Originally from Opelika, Alabama, defensive end Melvin Oliver has no regrets about making the decision to attend LSU.
“I think I’ve had a pretty good career,” said Oliver. “A couple of SEC championships, a national title. I don’t think I made a wrong choice in coming down to LSU and playing football. I think I’ve had a prosperous career and so far this is my best season to date.”
In recalling the team’s transformation throughout the 2005 season, Oliver said that things began very relaxed and laid back with the transition of the new coaching staff. After a brief warming-up period, things quickly adjusted in a positive and progressive manner.
“Now everyone has the feel of the coaching staff and we’re rolling just as we would with any other coach,” Oliver said.
With the talent pool as rich as it is, most teammates would agree with Oliver that expectations for the Tigers were skyrocketing.
“Our expectations were to win the SEC West and play every game for Louisiana. We had a couple of tragic hurricanes early in the season and we decided to dedicate the season for the state of Louisiana,” said Oliver.
Complications from the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina had a high impact on the team and put a hold on their increasing momentum. However, Oliver said the team decided to not remain stagnant but instead draw strength from the disaster.
“Our goals were to win the SEC Championship and win a national title. We think we have all of that in perspective as of this moment. Everything is still right in front of us for the taking,” said Oliver.
As for Oliver’s future plans, if the NFL doesn’t work out for him, he plans to attend chiropractic school. For right now, he just wants to focus on finishing his LSU football career.
“We’ve still got a few games left so I’m just looking forward to it and trying to keep getting better,” said Oliver.
Defensive tackle Claude Wroten joined LSU for the 2004 season as a junior after transferring from Mississippi Delta Community College. In his two seasons as a Tiger, Wroten has enjoyed every minute of it.
“I came here and made it fun and met a lot of great guys. My career here has been very good. I have no regrets. I was ready to move on from junior college,” said Wroten.
Having an opportunity to play elsewhere, Wroten stated that this is the best defense he’s ever played on. With the high level of talent, Wroten said that his teammates only make his job easier.
“We all make it fun. Everyone brings something different to the table,” Wroten said.
Along with the defensive line, Wroten said the entire team has shown tremendous growth.
“From the beginning of the season with the hurricane and a lot of our guys being from New Orleans that were hurt by the events, we had to bounce back. It just made us even stronger,” said Wroten.
He also feels that things as far as the new coaching transition have changed for the better. The team is stronger and more aggressive now in the things it needs to do. Wroten’s wishes are that the team continues to grow and carry that strength to postseason play.
“We’ve taken control of the West which puts us in a good position to win the SEC title. Those were our goals as well as winning the national championship,” said Wroten. We’ve lost a game, but we still have a slight chance.”
“From my experience, the defense has always been the backbone of our team,” stated defensive tackle Brandon Washington. “Ever since my first year at LSU in 2001, we’ve always had camaraderie on the defense. We always played for each other.”
Like his teammate Melvin Oliver, Washington is confident that his senior season will end in huge success.
“My (personal) goals were to just be in this position to graduate and be a part of a successful team my senior year,” said Washington. “I would like to go out and have won the national championship again, but the only way that’s going to shape up is by having only one loss. If we win out and finish 12-1 that’ll be great.”
The only negative for Washington was this season’s loss against Tennessee. He is still highly confident that the Tigers can win out by putting trust in the coaches, trust within each other and by continuing the dedication and hard work ethic.
With any team, coaching changes always present challenges. However, Washington’s take on the transition is that this year there has been more belief in the system and more belief in the coaches.
“Just overall they want to go out and get better each day and take on the right attitude every day at practice,” Washington said. “That’s a big part of defense, you’ve got to come out with the right attitude every day, and that’s what we do. We’re taking things more seriously and we’ve just come together as one.”
Washington is grateful for the many opportunities being a team member has given him athletically and academically.
“I had a couple of rough years, but overall with the success of the team, a national championship and all of that I’m happy with it. I’ve had the chance to meet a bunch of interesting people,” said Washington.
In May, Washington will graduate with a degree in arts and sciences with concentrations in African-American studies and psychology. As of now he is working on getting into the NFL.
“As far as football goes, you never know,” said Washington. “You could make money, you might not, but if that’s lucrative for me, I’ll probably open a restaurant. I like to cook, so hopefully everything works out for me.”
Washington also has a big heart for kids and would like to set out time to coach on the side.
In regard to his final moments in Tiger Stadium, Washington is upbeat.
“I think that this is a special year because we have a lot of seniors that have been here who’ve played a lot of football for this program. It’s going to be an emotional night. Everyone is going to come out all fired up. I’m happy for everybody and I’m looking forward to what the younger guys are going to do in the future.”
It’s no secret that defensive tackle Kyle Williams encompasses every aspect of true leadership. A constant role model, Williams has persistently set higher standards and led by example both on and off the field.
Outside of the playing arena, portraying a positive image of football players, and in particular LSU football players, has been an equally important mission throughout his LSU career.
“The thing that started it was that I didn’t believe that I could come to school here and just take, take, take all of the things that I’ve gotten. They’ve provided me with a free education, a great place to play football and friends that I’ll have for a long time, so I thought that I was in a position to be influential,” Williams said.
Some of his involvement includes working at Chapel on Campus, speaking at high schools and elementary schools and visiting hospitals.
“I think we’re in a day and age where a lot of things on TV are negative,” Williams explained, “and a lot of people say, ?I’m not a role model and I’ve never wanted to be one,’ and I think that’s something that the athletes, especially here at LSU, have grasped and run with and said that they wanted to be positive influences and I wanted to be another one.”
Though a humble individual, Williams recognizes that he is regarded by his teammates and coaches as an influential leader, as seen in his halftime hell-raiser speech two weeks ago at Alabama, which indeed was a key component in turning the game around.
“I think leadership comes with respect,” Williams said. “I think if you have the guys’ respect on the field and they see how you play and they see what you’re talking about when you’re preaching to them to play hard and to come to practice every day ready to work, concentrate and get the job done, but you’re not doing that, it speaks volumes and is negative on you. But if you speak that and follow up with it, you gain the respect of the team and I think that’s how I’ve gotten to be a leader by my focus and intensity and attention to detail since I’ve been here.”
“At Alabama, I just didn’t feel that we were playing the kind of football that we’re used to playing or that we wanted to play,” Williams said. “Some finger-pointing was going on. We were blaming one another for things, which we’ve never done. I just said to the guys that if we continue to do that and don’t come together, if we’re divided, that we were going to fall and were going to lose. I think everyone made a conscience decision and said ?Hey, we have to change it to win the game’. Obviously everyone did, so it was an exciting game.”
Williams doesn’t feel that he carries the leadership torch alone. He praises his fellow senior defensive lineman for bearing the weight as well. He also praises them for the individual uniqueness they bring to the defense.
“Each one of us brings a great deal of leadership and experience for everybody,” said Williams. “Claude, I think, brings a lot of comedy to it. He makes the time pass by when things seem to get mild in the preseason. I think I bring a lot of focus, you know. I like to remain focused on what we’re doing. Melvin ties it all together and so does Brandon. Those guys are pretty much from the same place in Alabama and they just have great leadership for us.”
Equally important as all of the hard work is to let it remain fun, which Williams says is a definite.
“I’d say that’s the main thing each one of us do with it. We have a lot of fun together,” Williams said.
The newlywed Williams said he wants to play football for as long as possible, every little boy’s dream that only the few are granted. For Williams, hopes of playing in the NFL are shortly on the rise. But here in the present, emotions are starting to churn rampantly as he is just trying to make every last second count as a proud LSU Tiger.
“These four years here have exceeded my expectations,” said Williams. “We won a national championship and an SEC championship, so it’s been great.
“I think this coming to an end is going to be hard. When you put so much into something for so long and spend so much time somewhere and with so many people, when it’s coming to an end, it’s definitely going to stir up a lot of emotions. As much as all of the guys that I’ve played with have put into this program and into these teams, it’s going to be hard, but we still have an opportunity to make some more memories and I think that’s what we have to concentrate on.”