We always want there to be an answer.

When we see a trend, especially a negative one, we want to be able to find a reason for how or why something is happening. It’s easier to find one broad, all-encompassing reason to explain something than it is to examine each individual situation.

There’s been a trend at LSU this offseason, and to the frustration of Tiger fans, it’s been a negative one.

Since the 2016 season concluded and Ed Orgeron’s staff began, LSU had 10 players transfer. The latest departure was expected starter Maea Teuhema, who announced his plans to transfer after he was suspended indefinitely for academic reasons.

Including Teuhema, here are the LSU transfers since the end of 2016:

  • QB Brandon Harris
  • CB Saivion Smith
  • DL Isaiah Washington
  • WR Jazz Ferguson
  • DL Travonte Valentine
  • OL Chidi Okeke
  • OL Andy Dodd
  • OL Willie Allen
  • OL Maea Teuhema
  • OL Seth Stewart

Some might look at that list and think that’s just normal roster attrition after a new coaching staff comes in town. Others might look at that list and think that Ed Orgeron is already losing the locker room.

So how should Tiger fans feel about so many early transfers? That’s not a black or white answer.

Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

If all 10 transfers left LSU for the same reason, we’d obviously have a clear-cut answer as to what the problem was. But that wasn’t the case.

For some, it was academic issues. For others, it was playing time. Not everyone was facing an indefinite suspension like Teuhema, and not everyone was a fifth-year senior like Dodd. It’s perfectly normal to see a couple guys get in trouble and a couple guys leave as graduate transfers after a new coaching staff rolls in.

Actually, it doesn’t always need to be a new staff for a program to have double-digit transfers:

Notice the date on that tweet. That was before the start of the 2016 season, when LSU was a preseason Top-5 team with Les Miles. In other words, the 2017 group of LSU transfers isn’t completely out of left field.

What’s interesting, however, is that of the 10 transfers, five were offensive linemen. That’s ironic considering the Tigers had three true freshmen and one redshirt freshman on the first-team unit for Saturday’s scrimmage. Part of that was due to injuries, and part of that was due to Teuhema’s departure.

But let’s back up a second. Five LSU offensive linemen transferred instead of possibly blocking for Derrius Guice?

If there’s a head-scratcher from these transfers, that’s it. You’d think there’d be a line from Baton Rouge to New Orleans full of guys wanting to block for a Heisman Trophy candidate like Guice.

Those former LSU offensive linemen left at different times for different reasons, so it’s not entirely fair to look at them as a group. We don’t know the interactions they had with the new staff.

What we do know is that Orgeron doesn’t want to let his dream job slip away because he let things slide. He wants to run a tight ship, which was evident with his lack of media access while LSU learns a new offense.

Orgeron isn’t afraid to ruffle some feathers, nor is new offensive coordinator Matt Canada, who clashed with Bret Bielema during his one and only season at Wisconsin (it was also Bielema’s last). Canada is at his sixth school in eight years. He didn’t get hired to please everyone, either.

Not every coach or every system is for everyone. Believe it or not, transfers aren’t the worst thing in the world. It often weeds out the guys who don’t want to be there or aren’t willing to do what it takes to be there. If it continues into the regular season — especially if more starters are suspended indefinitely — then it’s definitely cause for concern.

For now, though, it’s simply worth keeping a Tiger eye on.