2001 may well be the dawn of the Golden Era of LSU football, but it’s easy to forget that sandwiched between the Rohan-to-Reed connection and ‘03 National Title winners was a disappointing 2002 campaign. Davey graduated and Reed went pro. Trev Faulk went pro too, which proved the wrong decision after he wasn’t selected in the 2002 NFL Draft. Gone too were Jarvis Green, Howard Green and Robert Royal, all drafted into the NFL. Saban had a rebuild on his hands, but not a major one at that.
Returning was Bradie James and an emerging Chad Lavalais.