By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
When LSU sophomore running back Harlem Berry was still at St. Martin’s High in Metairie, he drew scholarship offers from Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, Miami, Ole Miss, Florida, Florida State, USC, Texas, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas A&M, among others.
He was the No. 1 running back in the nation in the class of 2025, No. 1 prospect in Louisiana and No. 33 player overall in the nation by 247sports.com. So other schools kept trying to sign him even though he committed to LSU on Jan. 3, 2024, and the only campus he visited officially was LSU that fall.
But the calls and the scholarship offers and the visit invitations kept coming. Why?
“When I was getting recruited, I was trying to fake it like I was going to go somewhere else,” Berry said laughing last week during media interviews after a spring practice. “But I always wanted to come here.”
Prince(will) Umanmielen didn’t get paid a King’s ransom to leave Ole Miss to “build” a program at LSU. He came to win the national championship.https://t.co/412MrJjAcL
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) April 2, 2026
And he never wanted to leave either after his first LSU coach, Brian Kelly, was fired during the 2025 season and replaced by Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.
“I’m from Louisiana,” he said. “I’m from New Orleans. All I knew was LSU growing up. I committed to LSU.”
Ole Miss was one of those schools that recruited Berry out of St. Martin’s. Kiffin offered him a scholarship on April 26, 2023. And while Kiffin and his new staff were taking over at LSU last December, Berry was one of the few offensive players from 2025 they were interested in keeping along with returning starting running back Caden Durham.
“Just knowing that they wanted me back here and me wanting to stay was real special,” said Berry, who gained 491 yards on 104 carries last season with eight catches for 32 yards. “It was a great feeling.”
Durham rushed for 505 on 111 rushes with 16 receptions for 91 yards as a sophomore last season. They will compete for the No. 1 job, but likely will split time in 2026.
Another reason Berry wanted to stay after the new staff came in was how much Ole Miss’ running game dominated LSU in the Tigers’ 24-19 loss last Sept. 27 in Oxford. Running back Kewan Lacy rushed for 87 yards on 23 carries with a 15-yard touchdown, while quarterback Trinidad Chambliss gained 71 yards on 14 carries.
And after LSU got within 24-19 with 5:04 to play on a 6-yard touchdown run by Berry, the Tigers never saw the ball again. Ole Miss ran out the clock with a 56-yard drive in 11 plays. Of the eight plays before Chambliss knelt down three times, seven were runs, including a 17-yard gash by Lacy and an 11-yard bolt by Chambliss.
“That was definitely very exciting knowing Ole Miss likes to run the ball,” Berry said. “Especially when we played them. I learned from just watching that.”
Berry was also impressed by the pace of Ole Miss’ up tempo offense that put up 480 yards in all as Chambliss completed 23 of 39 passes for 314 yards and a touchdown.
“I was watching how fast they were moving our defense,” he said. And that was before and during plays.
So fast that LSU linebacker Whit Weeks lost his pre-game meal.
“There was a clip online of Whit throwing up,” Berry said. “So just seeing that showed how much they move and how tired they could get a defense was something I was excited to see.”
And how tired Kiffin and company have been getting LSU’s offensive players preparing for their up tempo attack to be unveiled this season.
“There’s a lot of go-go-go,” Berry said. “Yeah, this is definitely a different type of offensive scheme. A lot of different things I’m seeing.”
And a lot of prep work from new strength coach Nick Savage, formerly of Ole Miss’ whose last name fits him. Word has it players were calling home telling mom and dad how fatigued they were.
“Coach Savage, when we first got here in January, them workouts were devious,” Berry said. “I’m not going to lie. I was real tired. I called my mom, too, told her I was really tired. This was different. But we embrace it. We’re working and trying to get in the best shape we can for the offense. I’ve been definitely trying to get my size up, at least maintaining it, and most importantly, my stamina to go with the up tempo.”
Be the first to comment