Anthony Bradford opens up about the new attitude around LSU, his offseason goals

It’s a time of change in Baton Rouge. There’s a new head football coach, freshmen and transfers are arriving to campus, and a new season is just around the corner for LSU. Tigers offensive lineman Anthony Bradford sat down with The Bengal Tiger podcast to discuss the evolution of LSU’s locker room since Brian Kelly was hired and what he expects to accomplish individually this summer in the weight room.

Bradford was asked about the team environment as a whole on the podcast. “Everybody’s in a good attitude,” he said of summer workouts. That, “surprisingly” the summer workouts have “been fun” according to the big fella. It’s a jolly group under coach Kelly. Which Bradford explained is one of the coaches goals. He said Kelly and the whole team are trying to create a team environment, where the players are connected to one another. LSU is establishing chemistry early in the first year under a new head coach.

Bradford also said he has some of his own personal goals he’s locked in on during workouts this summer. He says, “the big goal for me is getting into shape,” with a focus on improving his endurance. Bradford said he wants to “get my endurance up” so that he’s “able to attack the assignment every play during the season.”

Anthony Bradford on the mend

Regaining endurance and getting his body right seem to be what Anthony Bradford is shooting for during practices over the summer. A big part of why he needs to work on endurance is his injury from last fall. After starting five of LSU’s first six games at left tackle, where he split time with Cam Wire, Ed Orgeron announced that Bradford would miss the rest of the season. Why? Well nobody from Bradford’s camp or the team revealed why he missed the second half of the season. However, it does seem that some sort of injury played a role in derailing Bradford’s 2021.

So let’s assume it was an injury that kept Bradford out. Recovering from any injury that keeps you out for an extended period of time is tough. Especially for football players given the physical nature of the game. So after being hurt, working your body back up to the point where it can withstand the punishment of the gridiron is a long process. Sounds like Anthony Bradford is in the thick of it.

He hopes to be in the best shape of his life by the time the season starts in September. If he is, that’s a valuable and versatile piece the Tigers are adding to their offensive line. While he played mostly left tackle in 2021, Bradford’s home position is guard, and he can play either spot there. But after impressing at tackle, there are feasibly four different spots along the line where LSU can fit him in. Should be in for a breakout 2022 if all goes right.