There’s No Way Arik Gilbert Can Return to LSU Now

Arik Gilbert’s time as an LSU Tiger should be coming to an end soon. The star freshman tight end has been in the rumor mill in recent days about a potential transfer, and the latest news coming out of Baton Rouge should be the final nail in the coffin.

On Wednesday, head coach Ed Orgeron made an interesting comment about the status of Gilbert during the weekly SEC coaches teleconference.

There’s no way Gilbert comes back after that. It already looks like Gilbert quit on his team in 2020, but if he returns for 2021, it 100 percent confirms it.

We all know he's really leaving because the Tigers are terrible and heading in the wrong direction, and transferring to another program at least gives him the built-in excuse that he hasn't been happy in Baton Rouge and needs a change of scenery.

There has been speculation that Georgia, Georgia Tech, Alabama and maybe even Florida could be potential destinations for Gilbert, but it’s hard to know whether these are viable options for him because we don’t officially know if Gilbert is even going anywhere.

But he should ... and that’s the point. If he had any notion of staying, he should have sucked it up and finished out the last 2 or 3 games left on the team’s schedule. With No. 6 Florida and Ole Miss up next, the next couple games will probably be losses. Since he has opted out of playing them, he has quit on his team, his teammates, and his coaches.

Finding a new team, new teammates, and new coaches would be better than trying to come back to that same locker room and the same guys next season after giving up on them in this one. 

It’s hard to imagine a scenario where he returns.