What started 18 years ago as a small signing day party at the LSU Field House has grown into the annual Tiger Gridiron Club Bayou Bash, which today drew more than 2,000 fans to the Baton Rouge River Center.
“I think the important thing is we had 27 commitments and got them all,” says Gridiron Club member Chuck Goodwin, who has served as chair of the bash for the past eight years and was at the River Center by 6 a.m. today.
He says various factors influence attendance each year, such as the previous season’s record, bowl outcome and recruiting-class ranking—for which LSU has drawn kudos from ESPN and Rivals this year. Though Robert Nkemdiche, the nation’s top-ranked player, picked Ole Miss over LSU early this morning, highly ranked defensive end Tashawn Bower signed with the Tigers.
“The biggest buzz of the day was when Bower signed,” Goodwin says.
Meanwhile, one of LSU’s top targets this year, Tempe (Ariz.) Marcos De Niza’s Priest Willis, is reportedly not committing to anyone today. The complete list of those who signed with LSU today can be found here.
The Gridiron Club uses the Bayou Bash event, which Goodwin expects to gross more than $100,000 this year, as a fundraiser for the LSU football program. Goodwin says the funds are spent on the program by the head coach with oversight by the Tiger Athletic Foundation.
It’s a far cry from the event’s first year, when members of the Gridiron Club went to former LSU football coach Gerry DiNardo seeking approval to host an official party. DiNardo signed off on the idea, and fans watched as the names of recruits were handwritten on a board. Today, the party still features speakers, such as baseball coach Paul Mainieri and former great Billy Cannon, but fans also get to see a video on each signee.
