Last week, André Sam took the first official visit of his life. He was entering his seventh year of college football and about to sign with his fourth team, but he had never experienced the most glamorous side of recruiting until he arrived on LSU’s campus.
Sam had only taken unofficial visits, informal trips that aren’t paid for by the schools, before he went to McNeese State, Marshall and Tulane. He got chills walking into Tiger Stadium with his family. Crowd noise pumped through the loudspeakers and screens showed videos of packed bleachers.
“It felt like all the hard work that I’ve put in consistently throughout the years was finally starting to pay off,” Sam said.
The day after his visit, Sam went back to Iowa High School, his alma mater. Head coach and former defensive coordinator Tommy Johns had not seen him “that happy and excited in a while,” and Johns told the current players about what this former unranked recruit had gone through with Sam about to announce his commitment.
You see, Sam was a high school prospect with no stars who believed in himself more than evaluators believed in him. He developed a stutter after his father and grandfather died when he was 6 years old. His older brother, a former McNeese defensive back, died on the first day of Sam’s senior year at Iowa. Hardly anyone recruited him. And yet, he once locked eyes with Johns and vowed to earn a scholarship.
“That’s a story of determination,” Johns told the players, “and not being denied.”
Sam may not have gotten this far in a previous era. He never expected to play for another program when he enrolled at McNeese as a walk-on in 2017, partially because an obvious path to one didn’t exist. Then the transfer portal was created a year later. Sam saw teammates leave and told himself he could play at a higher level.
He entered the transfer portal after five years at McNeese. Sam had two extra seasons because of the coronavirus pandemic and a medical redshirt. He spent one at Marshall, where he earned honorable mention All-Sun Belt Conference honors. He then followed defensive coordinator Lance Guidry to Tulane. His longtime coach quickly left for Miami, and Sam transferred again after spring practice.
“My mindset is never to think about what can’t happen,” Sam said. “Always make sure you put yourself in the best position to make something happen. I had a lot of faith, and I had confidence in myself that getting back in the transfer portal, I would come up with something.”
LSU offered a scholarship a couple days later, and Sam provided much-needed safety depth. The Tigers lacked an experienced option behind starters Greg Brooks and Major Burns. Sam has recorded 232 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, six interceptions and 22 pass breakups over five seasons. Guidry said Sam plays best at free safety but can also cover slot receivers as the nickel. He blitzes well because of his timing.
“Dre’s one of those kids — like his brother — who’s got a chip on his shoulder,” Guidry said. “He wants to prove that he can play at a higher level and he keeps getting better and better. The higher the stakes, the better they play. It’s something in them.”
Coming out of high school, Sam did not generate much interest. He played wide receiver and defensive back. He rarely came off the field his senior year while catching 48 passes for 775 yards and 11 touchdowns. Johns thought he showed “unbelievable instincts.” But college teams questioned his speed as a receiver and didn’t see enough defensive tape.
“Everybody was kind of doing the same with him,” said Guidry, the McNeese head coach from 2015-18. “Nobody could project him at any position. I usually project a wide receiver maybe to play corner but not safety. I didn’t know if he would have the intangibles of being physical. But I did know his bloodline.”
Sam’s older brother, Aaron, had shined at McNeese. He led the team to the 2013 FCS Playoffs with 84 tackles. As a captain the next season, he earned first-team All-Southland Conference honors after recording 69 tackles and three interceptions, including one returned 98 yards for a touchdown in a near-upset of Nebraska. With his energy and playmaking, Guidry loosely compared him to Tyrann Mathieu.
On the first day of Sam’s senior year, his older brother was fatally shot. Lake Charles Police Deputy Chief Mark Kraus said at the time Aaron had been part of an armed group that committed a home invasion and the homeowners weren’t involved in the shooting, according to reports. Three men involved in the home invasion were later indicted for their roles in his death.
“I wanted to do exactly what he wanted to do,” Sam said. “The things I loved about him is he was confident in himself and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. That’s where some of it for me comes from him because I feel him living through me every day.”
Despite a productive senior season, Sam had few options. Arkansas-Monticello offered a partial scholarship. McNeese gave him the chance to walk on. Guidry was a former walk-on himself who became an All-Southland Conference defensive back for the Cowboys in the 1990s, so he knew there was a path. He told Sam to come prove himself.
“I’ll put you on scholarship the day I think you can play,” Guidry said.
The day quickly arrived. Football Championship Subdivision teams have 63 scholarships, and Guirdy always saved money for a walk-on after preseason practice. Sam had impressed everyone with his work ethic. After redshirting as a freshman, he was going to at least play special teams during the 2018 season. When Guidry asked assistants who deserved a scholarship, they replied: “André Sam.”
“I knew that I was a Division I athlete,” Sam said. “I just needed the right school and the right coaching staff to believe in me and to put their trust into me that I would come in and show them that I deserve to be on this level.”
Though Sam only played three games that year because of a torn left labrum, he became a key player while wearing No. 21 like his brother, a number he later left at McNeese “because I feel like that was our legacy together.” Sam started throughout the 2021 spring and fall seasons, recording 122 tackles with four interceptions and nine pass breakups to receive first-team All-Southland Conference honors twice.
By then, he decided to transfer. Sam had already graduated, and he had two years to test himself at a bigger program. North Texas and Louisiana Tech offered scholarships. But one of his friends had played well after transferring from McNeese to Marshall the year before, and Guidry was the defensive coordinator there.
Moving presented potential challenges. People around Lake Charles knew about his speech impediment, which affects more than 3 million Americans, according to the Stuttering Foundation. It disappears on the field, Guidry said, but Sam has to take his time in conversations. He gets caught on certain sounds.
“Being young, most kids at a young age don’t understand it, so it was rough,” Sam said. “It came to a point where I wouldn’t say nothing.”
In a new place roughly 1,000 miles from home, Sam realized he would have to speak more. He felt nervous. Guidry helped, telling people about the speech impediment before Sam arrived at Marshall. And he took classes that helped him learn how to live with his stutter.
During the season, Sam spoke on camera for a video about his life produced by the school. He may have never done that before he transferred, but thriving somewhere away from home improved his confidence. He views his stutter these days as a “gift” because it makes him unique.
“I’ve always wanted to tell the world where I come from and how it developed but never had the confidence to do so,” Sam said. “Marshall will always have a special place in my heart because when I went up there, I found myself.”
After Guidry left, Sam wanted to reach another level and finish his career closer to home. Miami and Ole Miss expressed interest. But after recording 53 tackles, 5 ½ tackles for loss and seven pass breakups with Marshall, he eventually landed at LSU. His mom can easily come to home games. His younger sister is headed to UL. He has to prove himself against major competition, but he has his support system nearby again.
Seven years and four teams later, Sam still thinks of himself as the doubted walk-on. He feels pride in the label, telling other walk-ons they can have similar careers. He stretched his as far as possible, and now he’ll play his last season at a place that once seemed out of reach.
“It’s every kid from Louisiana’s dream to do this,” he told Johns the day he committed, “and I’ve got one shot left.”
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