LSU Defensive Line Coach Jamar Cain Has Unique Ties to Joe Burrow

Cain talks about career journey, what he hopes to accomplish with defensive line group

Jamar Cain has been close to the Burrow family since Joe, or "Joe Joe" as Cain fondly used to call the Heisman trophy winning quarterback, was seven years old. 

A former graduate assistant at Ohio University where Jimmy Burrow was the defensive coordinator, as Cain went through the coaching ranks, Jimmy was always a mentor for him. As a young coach trying to make life a little easier on Jimmy, who was always preparing a game plan for Ohio, Cain was tasked with going to Joe's Pop Warner games and film them for a much busier Jimmy. 

"I was the GA and at the time we only had one so I was doing everything. I would be in the stadium on Sunday breaking the game down and Joey would be playing Pop Warner football in the stadium so I'd go film the game," Cain said. "He was running all of those little kids over."

Cain recalled putting together a highlight tape of Joe's season and even confirmed that he once babysat a young Joe. So when Cain took the job at LSU, there was certainly one family that was front and center to tell him about the job and new career challenge he'd be taking on.

"When I took the job here, Jimmy called me and gave me a list of numbers of people to call and take care of me," Cain said. "Jimmy's been awesome, he's been a huge mentor throughout my career and every time I've switched jobs he's the first guy I called."

Cain has now established himself as one of the premier defensive line coaches and recruiters in the country, having success at past stops at Oklahoma, Arizona State and Fresno State. When Cain was at North Dakota State he'd drive through snowstorms to go see a high schooler for 15 minutes. At Oklahoma he'd fly to Miami for a recruiting trip and hop on a flight the next day to Dallas to visit another recruit. 

It's the life he signed up for and enjoys every second of it which is one of the reasons Kelly thought so highly of his recruiting acumen and bring Cain aboard.

"His versatility, his ability to coach the defensive line not even in a three down or four down, the multiplicity that we're looking for defensively, that was really attractive," Kelly said. "Somebody who has that ability to do multiple jobs. He's won a national championship and has a proven record as a recruiter."

"There's no place I won't go because I'm so used to working," Cain said. "It's my job, it's what I do. You're not a good driver until you drive in a whiteout. I appreciate the grind and it's made me the type of recruiter that I am."

Cain inherits an elite defensive line with plenty of talent and depth across the board, starting with BJ Ojulari, Maason Smith, Ali Gaye, Jaquelin Roy and Mekhi Wingo. It's a group that like most positions in 2021, went through its fair share of injuries but really had a strong finish with a lot of younger players earning some experience down the stretch.

"They all look good, all long, flexible and eager to learn," Cain said. "I'm excited about every last one of them because I recruited every one of these kids."

Cain's philosophy is built around strength with the idea that guys are going to have bad plays technique wise. 

But having that ability when something goes wrong, to still have the mental and physical fortitude to relentlessly pursue the ball is the kind of vision Cain has for this group.

"We're gonna talk about strength, that's the biggest thing," Cain said. "You can make up a mistake with a bad technique or a slow get off but if you can't run through the ball and play at 100 mph, there's gonna be an issue. You guys are gonna be happy with the product you see and see guys running to the ball and playing with their heads on fire."