BATON ROUGE — Defending champion LSU led all Southeastern Conference teams with seven players on the preseason Coaches All-SEC first-team, the league office announced Thursday.
The Tigers tied Alabama for the most total All-SEC selections with 11 on the first, second and third teams.
The preseason All-SEC team was voted on by the 14 head coaches in the conference, and coaches were not permitted to vote for players on their own team.
LSU’s first-team All-SEC players were Alex Hurst on offense, Sam Montgomery, Barkevious Mingo, Tyrann Mathieu and Eric Reid on defense and Brad Wing and Mathieu on special teams.
The Tigers had three players listed on the second team and one on the third team.
Sophomore wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., junior offensive tackle Chris Faulk and senior placekicker Drew Alleman were named to the second team. Junior running back Spencer Ware was named to the third team.
Hurst is a two-year starter at right tackle. Last season, he had 71.5 knockdowns and was an All-SEC first-team selection.
Montgomery, who also earned first-team All-SEC honors in 2011, led the team with 9.0 sacks and ranked second with 13.5 tackles for a loss.
Mingo led LSU in tackles for loss with 15 last season and finished second in sacks with eight.
Reid tied for the team lead in tackles with 76. He also had two interceptions, three pass breakups and two forced fumbles.
Wing, a redshirt freshman last season, averaged 44.4 yards a punt and placed 27 of 59 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line. He was an Associated Press first-team All-America and first-team All-SEC selection.
Mathieu, a junior, was selected on the first-team defense and first-team special teams as a return specialist. In 2011, he tied for the team lead in tackles with 76, ranked first nationally with five fumble recoveries and also forced six fumbles.
As a punt returner he ranked second in the SEC and fourth nationally with a 15.6-yard average per return. He also returned two punts for touchdowns, including one for 92 yards against Arkansas that tied for the third-longest punt return in LSU history.
This marks the ninth straight year of the SEC Coaches Preseason All-SEC Team. The team is announced each year in advance of the SEC Football Media Days. This year, the event will be held next Tuesday through Thursday at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala.
LSU is slated to appear at SEC Media Days on Wednesday in Birmingham from 2:20-5 p.m. with head coach Les Miles, junior quarterback Zach Mettenberger, Beckham Jr. and Reid scheduled to attend.
The Tigers, who lost to Alabama in the national championship game last season, open the 2012 season Sept. 1 against North Texas.
