What is Brian Kelly preparing for year three at LSU?
Brian Kelly's initial run at LSU was solid, thanks to Jayden Daniels, but what happens now that the program is facing a reset?
Last offseason I detailed four really important factors for the 2023 LSU Tigers which proved to bear out in the results of their season.
The season was something of a disappointment, starting with the opening loss to Florida State and culminating in a failure to defend the SEC West division title. They still went 10-3 and quarterback Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy and set himself up to be an early draft pick for 2024. Both of those accomplishments boost a program, but they didn’t hit their expectations.
Here were the four factors I noted which all proved consequential.
LSU was LOADED at wideout. I even theorized preseason that if Daniels didn’t make a leap in play, or was injured, that Garrett Nussmeier might take over and produce results. That bore out on both fronts.
Harold Perkins didn’t have a position and their attempt to give him a demanding position like inside linebacker would likely cause a sophomore slump.
The Tiger defensive back room looked strangely more akin to a Brian Kelly Notre Dame secondary than a dominant LSU unit and needed young talent to emerge or else they might not be great.
They had a lot resting on defensive tackle Maason Smith coming back strong from injury and young Edges emerging.
The note about wideouts proved true. Brian Thomas Jr and Malik Nabers had huge seasons, both going over 1,000 receiving yards with 17 and 14 touchdowns apiece. Harold Perkins had to move back to a hybrid Edge position after struggling at inside linebacker. He was disruptive on the stat sheet with 13 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks, but also easy to exploit and his utilization was a season-long narrative. The Tiger secondary didn’t show up like I thought they might due to underclassmen and the Tiger D-line also struggled to get championship results from Smith and the young Edges.
Daniels’ success victimized Kelly with lofty expectations, much like Caleb Williams at USC for Lincoln Riley, and the head coach is executing a massive transition this offseason. He lost offensive coordinator Mike Denbock to Notre Dame but cleaned house on defense and brought in all new staff.
Here’s how it’s looking now.
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