always felt to him like it would seal his commitment to the program. "On the field and off the field, he's an amazing person," Stingley Jr. says. "He's a technician. And that's what I want."

But then Miles was fired, and Stingley wasn't so sure anymore.

Stingley, who is now 6'1" and 190 pounds, had become one of the most coveted football players in America by his junior season. Thriving at both cornerback and wide receiver, he was Rivals' No. 1 player in the 2019 recruiting class and 247Sports' No. 3.

With Miles out, Ed Orgeron took over at LSU, originally on an interim basis.

"I talked to the coaching staff at LSU at that time," says Neil Weiner, the head football coach of the Dunham School. "I wasn't trying to slightGreedy Williams or Donte Jackson, who were playing cornerback at the time. But I told them that if [Stingley] was on your roster right now, he'd be starting for you as a 16-year-old."

Orgeron made retaining Stingley's commitment a priority, and after the coach's interim tag was lifted, the Stingleys felt comfortable with the decision stay in Baton Rouge.

Stingley signed during the early period in December and, as a high school senior, practiced with the team for its bowl preparation that same afternoon. Playing against the first-team offense, Stingley needed less than two hours to intercept his first pass.

According to Weiner, the program even briefly explored whether Stingley could play against UCF in the Fiesta Bowl that year. That didn't happen, but Stingley's performance was nonetheless eye-opening.

As it has