Copyright Baton Rouge Advocate
When UL’s coaching staff brought former Northshore High of Houston offensive tackle Jakoby Isom into the program early in what should have been the spring of his senior season, neither party had any idea what was about to unfold. “We were fired up about him,” UL coach Michael Desormeaux said. “We felt like he as good enough to go out there and physical enough to play.” At the time, though, UL’s depth chart on the offensive line looked plenty deep, so the idea was to play Isom in the four allowed games to maintain his redshirt status down the road. “We didn’t see a scenario where we were going to need him to play,” Desormeaux admitted. And yet a rash of injuries on the offensive line and one valued backup deciding to retire from the sport and suddenly Isom was needed … in a major way. It’s a good thing the 6-foot-3, 325-pounder came to UL early. “That actually help me a lot,” Isom said. “It helped me with my teammates … good friendships. They brought me in and were like, ‘We’re going to help you. All you have to do is ask.’ We’re never alone.” So right away, Isom began taking advantage of such veterans on the offensive line as Jax Harrington, Cooper Fordham, George Jackson and Bryant Williams. “I learned a lot,” Isom said. “It’s very different than high school. I learned to take the right steps. I learned where to put my hands. I learned how to watch film.” Desormeaux said coming from a quality high school program helped, because “he was used to the work.” As if that wasn’t enough thrown at Isom, he was then asked to play center and eventually guard after being a full-time tackle in high school. “Yeah, that was a big chance,” Isom said. “They didn’t even move me to guard. They moved me to center. I had never snapped a single down before, but I had to understand I had to take that road. So I came back here at night trying to snap and get better at snapping.” As it turned out, the starting center Fordham has been the only healthy member of the top seven linemen, so Isom has ended up playing guard when called upon. “I just had to learn that I can’t get back on my set too far, especially since I’m a heavier player,” he said. Even more challenging for Isom is that first action came in week three at Missouri. “What was going through my mind was just don’t be nervous,” Isom said. “Just play fast, play hard and play physical. If you mess up, mess up full speed.” Desormeaux said Isom accomplished all of those objectives. “That was a tough environment (at Missouri) and he played really well,” he said. “He was really physical. He’s just young, so he makes some freshman mistakes at times, but he’s a really good player. He’s done a really good for us.” Like all of UL’s offensive linemen, Isom had his issues with James Madison’s dynamic defense, but “he’s worked really hard to get it fixed.” Then the pressure was really on for last Saturday’s game against Southern Miss. Starting left guard Kaden Moreau went down in the James Madison came, so Isom got his first start. “It was me or nobody else, so I had to get it right.” Isom said. Indeed, Isom’s first taste of college football has been quite challenging with all of the injuries. The linemen have had to have separate meetings. The offensive line is always the key to any team, but things have been borderline desperate depth chart-wise at UL this season because of the injuries. “It was just, ‘We’re going to have to have to other people step up. The baby stuff has got to go out of the window.’ Everybody had to step up and be ready.” So far, Isom feels himself improving with each outing. “I feel like my footwork has improved and my knowledge of the playbook,” he said. “I’m learning it a lot better and I’ve gotten a lot stronger.” If he’s going to continue on the upward trajectory, Isom intends to stay focused on “watching a lot of film. It’s just about learning the opponent and learning what you’re supposed to do in your playbook.”
