LSU Boots QB
LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux was kicked off the defending national championship team Friday after a college career marked by legal and disciplinary problems.
Perrilloux “didn’t fulfill his obligation as an LSU student-athlete,” coach Les Miles said in a statement. “Ryan was given every opportunity to be a part of this football team.”
Perrilloux, a sophomore, was a backup to Matt Flynn last season. He showed glimpses of great promise, drilling receivers downfield or punishing tacklers while running the option.
He played sparingly in LSU’s victory over Ohio State for the national title, but the starting job next season appeared his provided he could avoid trouble off the field.
Perrilloux’s lawyer, Nathan Fisher, declined comment Friday. Phone calls to the home of Perrilloux’s mother in LaPlace, La., went unanswered.
The quarterback is expected to finish the spring semester, LSU officials said. He must do so to remain eligible to play next season if he transfers.
Perrilloux was suspended last summer and during recent spring drills. He was on the fringe of a counterfeiting investigation and was caught trying to enter a Baton Rouge casino with false identification. He also was involved in a nightclub fight in November, causing him to miss a game at Alabama. He was cleared of wrongdoing.
Miles again suspended Perrilloux, whose father died Feb. 7, in mid-February after he missed a team meeting, skipped some classes and was late for some conditioning workouts.
Perrilloux had to meet academic requirements and do extra conditioning before he was reinstated April 6, in time to go with the Tigers to meet President Bush at the White House. Perrilloux was not allowed to play in LSU’s spring game.
Before his last reinstatement, Miles said Perrilloux had been doing better with classwork. During the spring, redshirt freshman Jarrett Lee and junior Andrew Hatch, a transfer from Harvard, split time as the quarterback of the Tigers.
Appearing in 12 of LSU’s 14 games last season with two starts, Perrilloux completed 51 of 75 passes (68 percent) for 694 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions. Perrilloux also rushed 50 times for 207 yards and two touchdowns.
Perrilloux’s second start came in the Southeastern Conference championship game, when Flynn was too hurt to play. Perrilloux was 20-of-30 passing for 243 yards and a touchdown in a 21-14 victory over Tennessee.
Perrilloux was widely considered the nation’s most sought quarterback recruit when he played at East St. John High School in Louisiana.
Perrilloux’s former coach at East St. John, Larry Dauterive, said he had not heard from his former player but had fielded more than a dozen calls from Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) programs hoping to land Perrilloux as a transfer.
“I want to see him surface. I want to see him get on the field because he’s such a talented athlete,” Dauterive said. “I’ve been doing this 39 years and I’ve never seen anybody do with a football what he can do. I don’t know if his priorities are screwed up or what. He’s the best athlete I’ve ever been around – ever.”
Dauterive said he never had a problem with Perrilloux and is “flabbergasted” by the troubles in college.
“He’s a phenom,” Dauterive said. “And to throw that away, it’s mind-boggling to me. I just hope he comes to his senses.”
