The unofficial start of the 2023 football season is upon us.
Sun Belt Media Days is taking place in New Orleans this week at the Sheraton Hotel with all 14 teams in attendance.
For the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns, the message has been clear: the biggest growth is from year one to year two.
For KC Ossai and Neal Johnson, part of that growth is both of them stepping into leadership roles in their positions of linebacker and tight end respectively.
“Yeah, it’s been exciting,” said Johnson. “I haven’t taken that leadership role lightly at all. I’ve been trying to make sure I’ve done all the right things. Like do I say what I’m going to do. Also this offseason, I’ve really been focusing in that weight room trying to gain a little bit more weight.”
Returning for his fifth season with the program, Johnson has seen the highs and lows of Louisiana football. The Mesquite, TX native was the second-leading receiver on the team a year ago with 25 catches for 296 yards and two touchdowns.
For the Louisiana offense, there were three quarterbacks that played during the season, including Ben Wooldridge, Chandler Fields, and true freshman Zeon Chriss. With both Wooldridge and Fields missing the offseason spring camp with injuries, Chriss was able to gain valuable experience in his second spring with the program.
Johnson is well aware of how special it is to have three quarterbacks that could all execute this offense.
“It gives us another level of confidence,” Johnson said. “When you know you have three guys that can go out there and lead the team to a victory.”
KC Ossai steps into his leadership role on the defensive side of the ball, as the junior linebacker finished with 63 tackles in 2022. Ossai has learned a lot about the game of football from his older brother Joseph, who played collegiately at Texas before heading to the NFL to play for the Cincinnati Bengals.
“He taught me a lot,” Ossai said Tuesday. “How to take care of my body, how to respond, how to prepare for games, or watch film, those little things like that you take for granted in high school.”
Ossai saw the opportunity to take a step up a season ago, including tallying 20 tackles in Week 2 and Week 3 against Eastern Michigan and Rice.
“Obviously, a great step to becoming a player I want to be last year,” Ossai said. “It was great to not only see what people were talking about, like people telling me ‘you’re gonna be a great player’, but to actually go out there and do it.”
Louisiana will look to right the ship after finishing the 2022 season with a record of 6-7 and an Independence Bowl loss to Houston. Their 2023 season begins at September 2nd with Northwestern State playing at Cajun Field.