LSU Safety A.J. Haulcy May Be From Houston, But His Hero Is Ed Reed Of Destrehan High

By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter

LSU senior safety transfer A.J. Haulcy has brought back something the Tigers’ defense has often lacked for several years – physicality and aggressiveness. It is no surprise, though, considering the player after whom Haulcy mirrors his game.

“Growing up, I played quarterback, so I was really looking at quarterbacks, but as I got older and got to the defensive side of the ball, I started watching Ed Reed,” Haulcy said.

Reed grew up in St. Rose near New Orleans before playing at Destrehan High and becoming a star at Miami (1997-2001) and with the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL (2002-13). An All-American in 2000 and ’01, Reed was the 24th pick of the first round by Baltimore and was an eight-time All-Pro and 2004 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He returned to New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII in the 2012 season and helped lead the Ravens to victory over San Francisco in the Superdome.

Former LSU DT Breiden Fehoko says Tigers are painfully not physical;https://t.co/RF9Z4IfSkY

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) October 8, 2025

“Ed Reed really just took my eye, and that’s just someone I wanted to model my game after,” Haulcy said.

WHICH GARRETT NUSSMEIER NARRATIVE DO YOU BELIEVE?

The transfer from the Houston Cougars has been an integral part of the early success of LSU’s defense through five games. Haulcy has 26 total tackles, half a tackle-for-loss, a forced fumble and an interception.

No. 11 LSU (4-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) hosts South Carolina (3-2, 1-1 SEC) on Saturday (6:45 p.m., SEC Network) at Tiger Stadium.

Haulcy is a talented tackler, but it wasn’t always that way at Fort Bend Marshall High in Missouri City, Texas, in the Houston area.

“In high school, I was not a tackler,” he said. “I was more of a big hitter, but then in college I started becoming more of a tackler. I’d say now and this late in my career, I kind of put both of those together.”

Haulcy has also improved at defending the pass. In LSU’s 20-10 win over Florida on Sept. 13, he read quarterback DJ Lagway, jumped a route and intercepted the pass – one of five by Lagway in that game.

“I feel like that’s just something I do best,” he said. “I see the game, so I can trick the quarterback into throwing me the ball. That’s just something that I have.”

Haulcy prides himself on being instinctual. He saved a touchdown at Ole Miss on Sept. 27 when he ripped the ball out of wide receiver Cayden Lee’s hands near the goal line.

“Any time I can see the ball, most of the time I want to take a shot at it,” hey said. “You might not get a great opportunity at a lot of plays, so if a play does come your way, this is your time to shine.”

Haulcy and company will need to play well to contain South Carolina’s dual threat quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who dominated LSU last season in a 36-33 loss before getting injured in the second quarter.

“We went out there and focused on our communication,” Haulcy said of the Tigers’ preparation last week during an open date. “Our communication plays a big part to being a great defense, so we went out there and focused on just being on the same page. I feel like we got that down.”

The key to containing Sellers is simple, according to Haulcy.

“Just making sure your stay with your guy if a play does break down,” he said. “When it does happen, just stay with your guy, and just know whichever way they’re scrambling.”

UPDATE: LSU safety A.J. Haulcy will not play 1st half at Clemson because he was ejected for fighting in his last game for Houston, NCAA confirms. Right decision. If LSU really didn’t know he had a pending suspension, how dumb is that?https://t.co/loBZDRoFI8

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) August 29, 2025

Being a senior, Haulcy’s college career is coming to an end, so every game matters. He especially realized this after learning he was suspended for the first half of the Clemson game because of his role in a fight in Houston’s last game in the 2024 season.

“Man, I was devastated,” he said. “I actually found out when I was in the hot tub. It was Thursday (before the game), and someone called me. They watched ESPN, they saw it, and I’m like, ‘I’m suspended?’ And I’m not knowing what for, and then I saw the clip, and I did kind of forget about it.”