How Growth in the Film Room Has Helped LSU's Ali Gaye Improve as a Defensive Lineman

Before he arrived to LSU, Ali Gaye had no earthly idea of the correct way to watch and break down film. The now senior defensive end spent the early part of his college career at a pair of community colleges, most recently Garden City Community College in Kansas, making a name for himself and moving to LSU.

In his first season with the purple and gold, Gaye was one of the few defensive players who jumped off the screen right from the start, contributing 32 tackles, 9.5 tackles for a loss, two sacks and seven passes defended. His knack for batting the ball down at the line of scrimmage was a pleasant surprise and had he left a season ago, likely would've been drafted. 

But there are multiple areas he's hoping to progress in this season, starting with defending the run a little bit better. A major component to seeing his on field play improve is the work he puts in the film room off the field, which is something he really started getting into a habit of doing during that 2020 season. 

"I guess just learning how to break down film better. I've learned so much since I got here and learning how to watch film has helped me not only know what I'm supposed to be doing but what everybody else on the d-line is doing to make sure the whole defense is working together," Gaye said. 

LSU coach Ed Orgeron and new defensive line coach Andre Carter have been instrumental in helping Gaye and all of the defensive linemen excel in the film room. Studying opposing offensive lines and their tendencies is an underrated part of playing in the trenches and every little edge a defensive lineman can get could make all the difference in the world. 

"Coach Carter and coach O, they really spend a lot of time teaching us how to watch film, what we're seeing on offense and how to beat the line or beat whoever's in front of you," Gaye said. "It's simple for us to understand."

Gaye looked like a SEC linemen during his first season, showing off elite athleticism and size that's only found in this conference. But growing the mental side of the game is that next step, which is where the film study comes in handy. 

Film is just one portion of the work, the other part of which comes on the practice field, where Gaye says he lines up against the best offensive linemen the SEC has to offer. 

"I go against the best every day in practice and that prepares me for going into any game," Gaye said. "It's a competition every day so they get me right, they get me better before every game. We treat practices like a game so that when the game comes I'm just ready to go out there and dominate.

"There's a lot of weapons so if you stop one man, another man's coming to eat. There's no stopping us, one of us is making the play. I know we've got a lot of young guys but we try to implement that argument to them and hopefully they can learn from our mentality. We've got weapons on the edge and the inside so we're coming."