Ryan Perrilloux dismissed from team

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By Marie V. Roussel

LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux failed a drug test and had a rude awakening as head coach Les Miles dismissed him from the football team for good. Perrilloux has spent most of his career as a student-athlete on thin ice.

Perrilloux’s off-field antics have brought nothing but headaches and endless criticism for Miles and the rest of the team.

“He didn’t fulfill his obligations as an LSU student,” said Miles in an e-mail statement. “Ryan was given every opportunity to be a part of this football team.”

Perrilloux’s all-star capability has been matched by his inability to abide by team rules and sometimes the law. Since his arrival to LSU, he was first a “person of interest” in a counterfeiting investigation. Soon after, Perrilloux was caught trying to enter a casino with fake identification.

However, the versatile and talented athlete’s troubles did not end there. In November, he was involved in a fight at the Varsity and suspended from the Alabama game. He was then reinstated to the team after the game.

Then, in February, Miles put Perrilloux on what would be his longest suspension of his career at LSU. Miles said that Perrilloux warranted the suspension after missing multiple team meetings, skipping classes and arriving late for team workouts. Although he was reinstated to the football team on April 6, almost two months later, he was still not allowed to participate in the spring game.

Many hoped that his last suspension would be the end of the Perrilloux bad behavior period, yet a mere two weeks after the suspension was lifted, he was asked to leave the Kona Grill restaurant after starting a commotion. Perrilloux became angry when a waiter refused to serve him alcohol and called the waiter “Osama.”

After all this, Perrilloux became the center of headaches for his coaches, teammates and the LSU faithful. Many wanted to see him stay because of his talent, while many wished him adieu because of the disgrace he brought to Tiger Nation.

With his dismissal, Perrilloux will finish out the remainder of the semester. By doing so, he remains eligible to play next season upon a transfer.

Perrilloux has gone from being the best recruit out of high school to being the biggest disappointment at LSU. However, his former high school coach, Larry Dauterive, still has faith in him and has stated that Division I-AA schools do too.

“I want to see him surface,” said Dauterive.

Perrilloux’s former coach has also stated that the he was never a problem for him or the rest of the team in high school and that he is puzzled with his behavior in college. However, regardless of what Dauterive thinks, Miles made his decision, and the plague of Ryan Perrilloux is in the past.

Now, the football team’s focus will be getting a new starting quarterback ready for reps in the fall. The competition for the starting job will be between junior Harvard transfer Andrew Hatch and redshirt freshman Jarrett Lee.

“We’ve got to be leaders up front and lead by example,” said senior center Brett Helms. “It's going to be a lot of hard work, leading by example, and hopefully we can get everybody to come along with us. But that's where it all starts, up front.”

Originally Published: Issue 607 - May 6, 2008

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