BATON ROUGE — He sat there completely at ease, as if he had been interviewed about his legendary exploits hundreds of times, which he has.
For Russell Shepard, you realized LSU's annual media day would be old hat for a kid who'll be celebrating his 19th birthday next month, an engaging, nonstop talker who ran and passed his way to the top of the 2009 blue-chip list.
At the moment, "call me Russ" was dealing with a question concerning the challenges that go with the jump from high school to college, in Shepard's case going from Cypress Ridge High School in Houston to LSU.
Because he signed on as a Tiger in January, early enough to take part in spring practice, and the spring game, the 6-1, 188-pound quarterback-receiver-slot back-take your pick was talking about how those defensive linemen and linebackers and cornerbacks were so much faster, so much quicker, than those he faced as a senior at Cypress Ridge. In that season, he accounted for — this is no typographical error — almost 4,000 yards and 48 touchdowns.
What could this mean for Russell "The Tiger" Shepard?
"Maybe a 180," he said, leaving you with one of those puzzled looks.
Excuse me.
Please explain.
"That's one-eighty," he said.
One run for 80 yards every game.
He checked out his audience.
And chuckled.
A second later, Shepard is looking over at Jordan Jefferson, telling you how the sophomore quarterback, No. 1 on the depth chart, has gotten him "to calm down," telling you how great it has been for the MVP of the Chick-fil-A bowl game to be "my mentor."
A second later, he's telling you he had 72 offers coming out of high school, telling you "Florida finished second" to LSU in his personal recruiting chase.
You mean quarterback Tim Tebow, who won the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore, tried to make him a Gator?
"He's a nice dude, and he tried," Shepard said. "No chance."
As Shepard rolled on, he sounded as much like LSU's recruiting coordinator as the Tiger's top recruit.
Once he was aboard, he made sure Rueben Randle, a wide receiver out of Bastrop High School, and Sam Montgomery, a defensive lineman out of South Carolina — a couple of deep-blue recruits — would not get away.
"Look, I picked LSU because I wanted to be at a school where I could help win championships," Shepard said. "Excuse me, but I wasn't interested in going to Central Florida or North Carolina. LSU has won championships. LSU is cool. LSU was the place for me to be."
Here's what makes Shepard LSU's biggest story going into a season that followed a national championship with an 8-5 fall from grace.
How much will he play?
And where?
Will someone who goes into the season as No. 3 on the quarterback depth chart, the crown jewel of the 2009 recruiting class, wind up with fewer minutes on the football field than names you've never heard of?
It's a question Coach Les Miles and offensive coordinator Gary Crowton, will answer.
I asked Crowton what impressed him most about Shepard's performance in the spring game?
"His poise, his ability to go about business without being rattled," he said. "What was impressive was not only his feet, his athletic ability to make you miss, but his hands, his knack of holding on to the football when he's taking off. He has a physical presence."
Here's the deal on Shepard.
From those who've seen him taking his first baby steps as a Tiger, he does not pack the speed of senior Trindon Holliday but is a north-to-south runner with far more juking moves to find daylight.
As a senior in high school, he played quarterback 100 percent of the time — 90 percent from the shotgun formation and 10 percent under center. Out of the shotgun, he ran the option 30 percent of the time.
What does it mean?
It means the most potent threat Shepard represents, for a Southeastern Conference defense, is a quarterback running out of the shotgun, running as your first option, passing as your second.
As a high school senior, he passed for 1,843 yards and 20 touchdowns with four interceptions. He rushed for 1,946 yards and 28 touchdowns.
Those days are over.
For Miles, what matters are the days ahead.
How much time will Shepard spend on the football field?
And where?
How about a redshirt season?
"Excuse me," Shepard said. "What's a red shirt? I'm here to help win championships."
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