LSU football has championship ambitions every year, that's just the reality of life in (the real) Death Valley. But this year the sights are being set a bit lower, at least to start.
The point that Brian Kelly made sure to drive home as he spoke at SEC Media Days this week: 1-0, as in the record the Tigers have never achieved since Kelly arrived as LSU's head coach.
"We needed to do some things differently this year and that is embrace this opener and embracing it in a manner that this is a big game and it’s a tangible goal for our football team to want to be 1-0," Kelly said. "It’s not let’s warm up into the season. ... We want to be ready for this football game and so we're doing everything in our power to give our players the opportunity for that success."
LSU didn't use it's scheduling to buck that trend, with this year's opener one of its most difficult in a while as they'll travel for a showdown with Clemson. The Tigers opened with Florida State in the first two seasons under Brian Kelly, both tough losses, and fell on the road against USC to kick off last season.
"It’s gonna be difficult, but look, I don’t think you set realistic goals unless they’re difficult," Kelly continued. "This will be a difficult challenge for us, but one that we’re excited about and one that we’re focused on with great intent.”
Perhaps the best news for the Tigers on that front is that they'll be bringing back Garrett Nussmeier, a potential high draft pick in 2025 who has remained committed to the program since joining as a freshman in 2021, in itself a rarity in modern college football.
"You all saw ... Jayden Daniels’ development from Year 1 to Year 2 was astronomical, if that word even suits it." Kelly said. "I mean, it was incredible. Garrett Nussmeier will have a similar jump. It’s because you go on the road and it’s sold out. You play teams that are so well coached and so balanced and have great players that you have no choice but to learn, develop and get better or you’re gonna be left by the side, and so that’s why I’m so confident that experience in this league at the quarterback position is the most important thing."
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MORE FROM BRIAN KELLY
On NIL kickstarter donation
Brian Kelly pledged $1 million to kickstart LSU's NIL fund this season, prompting 1,600 LSU supporters to kick in as well to push that number to $3.5 million. The Tigers landed the top-ranked transfer portal class in the nation, per 247Sports.
“Look, I think it’s the nature of where we are in college football. We have revenue sharing, we have NIL. Look, we’re early on in the process here, right, this is kind of the first step towards what we’re trying to put together. I’m excited about college football. I’m excited that we have something in place relative to revenue sharing. NIL is still something that we have to navigate through, so to answer your question succintly, I think we still have to be thinking about how we continue to build our suppot for NIL, because it’s not going away, and nor should it, as well as revenue sharing. I think we’re in … the first stages of where we need to be, but we have to still be moving in that direction.”
On fixing the defense
“I think we’ve got an outstanding defensive coordinator and defensive staff. Blake Baker is, in my opinion, elite in the field of defensive coordinators. We needed to give him some more tools and look, I’ve been the head football coach at LSU and I know that we have not played the kind of defense necessary to win a national championship. I think we put a roster together in this offseason, along with young players that have taken lumps along the way, as they’ve developed, and given Blake now the tools to play championship-level defense, because clearly the 2023 offensive football team we had was good enough to win a national championship. We weren’t good enough as a team and a lot of that had to do with addressing some shortcomings we had on defense. We think we’ve done that. I love our roster.”
On Nussmeier being all-in on LSU
“He represents LSU. He represents the state of Louisiana. I mean, he is our guy. … He’s waited for this opportunity. He loves LSU, and so you want to follow a guy like that, because he’s got all the things that you’re looking for in a player, committed, passionate, focused. He’s got leadership ability, and he can whip the ball around the yard when you need to. Now, the thing that he brings to the table as I’ve said in many of these settings, experience is the best teacher, and he’s got experience and he’s got some adversity that he had to overcome along the way. I will take that kind of quarterback any time in the SEC, because when you go on the road, when you start with Death Valley, you bring a freshman into Death Valley, you’d better be ready for the backup to get in there, too. That’s my point, is that experience and a guy that has the traits that represent LSU is our starting quarterback. How cool is that?”