LSU football heads into a season-opening matchup against UCLA with unknowns and new coaches across the board.
While that inevitably leads to some question marks and mystery on the Tigers' side of things, the same holds true for the Bruins and Chip Kelly. The head coach explained as much to reporters this week.
"We get what we expect to get and the evidence of what it's going to be like," Kelly said. "We can guess about it and look at it, but we're going to have to make some adjustments early on both sides of the ball."
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UCLA's coach is, of course, referring to Jake Peetz and Daronte Jones, who will be making their debuts as the LSU offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively, on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl. While Peetz is expected to return LSU's offense to something closely resembling the dynamic attack of the 2019 Tigers offense, that's not true of the defense. Jones is expected to simplify the scheme, Orgeron explained earlier this offseason, with an emphasis on communication and making sure players are in position to make big plays -- and prevent them.
The team also has a new passing game coordinator in DJ Mangas, a Joe Brady understudy along with Peetz. The offense is shifting from the system orchestrated by Steve Ensminger the past several seasons, while the defense course corrects from one season under Bo Pelini. Former Arkansas assistant Brad Davis is taking over the offensive line duties, while former New York Jets assistant Andre Carter is coaching the defensive line.
"It's a brand new defense so there is no tendencies. ... but I do know with Coach O at the top that that's going to be a hard nosed, physical defensive football team because everywhere he's been that's what it's been," Kelly said. "So that's what we expect."
And that's what Tigers fans will hope to see from a defense that was routinely gashed by big plays throughout a middling 2020 season. LSU returns both Derek Stingley Jr. and Eli Ricks on the outside, whom Orgeron has repeatedly described as the top cornerback tandem in the nation and have combined for 10 interceptions over the past two season.
LSU and UCLA kick off at the Rose Bowl at 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening (FOX).
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