Brian Kelly and LSU: Welcome to Center Stage
On the bright lights, big expectations and make-or-break feel to LSU's 2025 season.
LSU Tigers Football vs Florida Gators, Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, NCAA College Team, SEC - Tammy Anthony Baker - Wikimedia Commons
LSU head coach Brian Kelly did not mince words during his opening press conference back in December of 2021.
“Listen, you’re looked at in terms of championships here, and I want that. I want to be under the bright lights. I want to be on the Broadway stage. That’s what my passion is. And so, yeah, that’s part of the draw, there’s no doubt about that."
The circumstances surrounding LSU are unlike anything we have in college football.
There’s a primal energy that hums when night falls over Death Valley. Tailgates turn into full-blown celebrations. Home white jerseys gleam under the lights. And pure, uncut chaos never feels too far behind. It’s part Mardi Gras, part voodoo, and it’s all stitched into the very fabric of LSU Tiger football. It’s a spectacle—just like Broadway.
Like white rice in the middle of a bowl of gumbo, with that pageantry comes a heaping pile of expectations. Win, or they’ll find someone who can.
As Brian Kelly enters Year 4, all eyes are on Baton Rouge. Can he and the Tigers take a leap and enter the national title conversation? Or are the lights too bright for a big-talking Kelly?
Is History Rhyming?
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” – Mark Twain
In the context of LSU football, there’s one thing that separates the good coaches from the great coaches. Throughout the history of Tiger football, every national title-winning coach has won the big one in four seasons or fewer.
Paul Dietzel went just 11-17-2 through three seasons from 1955-1957 before capturing a national title in 1958 after an undefeated season.
Nick Saban, the greatest college football coach of all time, went 31-9 through three seasons. In Year 4, his Tiger team went 13-1 and won a national title.
Les Miles went 34-6 through three seasons and won his first and only national title in Year 3.
Ed Orgeron? Yep, he followed suit, too, and led arguably the greatest college football team ever assembled to a national championship in Year 3.
What does this all mean for Brian Kelly, who is entering his fourth season? Maybe nothing. Maybe something.
If anything, it’s a clear reminder that this is a critical year for Kelly and his LSU story. There’s no more room for errors or excuses. This is a make-or-break year for Kelly—and the time is now if he’s ever to win a national title wearing purple and gold.
Good Isn’t Good Enough
If you didn’t know any better, you might think Brian Kelly has had a difficult tenure as LSU's head coach. While that’s true to an extent, Kelly has largely done a good job since he arrived in Baton Rouge three years ago.
He won 10 games in 2022, capping the season with a dominant Citrus Bowl victory over Purdue.
In 2023, the Tigers again finished with double-digit victories, and quarterback Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy.
Last year, LSU took a slight step back, this time winning just nine games and missing out on the College Football Playoff.
The problem? Good is never good enough in Baton Rouge.
For whatever reason, there’s always been something holding LSU back under Brian Kelly.
In 2022, quarterback Jayden Daniels was solid, but was so risk averse the offense lacked the necessary juice to get over the hump.
In 2023, Daniels was electrifying. He put his dual-threat capabilities on full display and captured the hearts of college football fans far and wide. But the defense leaked like a sieve, making games a lot harder than they needed to be.
Last year, quarterback Garrett Nussmeir showed flashes of brilliance, but turned the ball over too much. The defense played better at times, but didn’t get enough big stops in big moments.
Entering Year 4, Brian Kelly and LSU are dying to be truly relevant again. Nine and 10 wins are good at a lot of places, but LSU doesn’t settle for good. The hunt for a College Football Playoff berth continues.
A Reconfigured Roster + A Big Early Test
Kelly and company did a lot of hard work this offseason to reconfigure the roster.
LSU portaled hard, hauling in the top-ranked Transfer Portal class, according to 247 Sports. Notable names from that portal class include former Oklahoma wide receiver Nic Anderson, former Kentucky wide receiver Barion Brown and former FSU defensive end Patrick Payton, among others.
The Tigers had big holes to fill. Last season, the receiver room needed a little extra pop and juice, and they’ll hope Anderson and Brown provide that in bunches.
The offensive line will look a lot different this time around, too, with offensive tackles Will Campbell and Emory Jones Jr. both off to the NFL. To reconfigure that offensive line, LSU again dipped into the Transfer Portal and came back with VT interior o-lineman Braelin Moore and Northwestern’s Josh Thompson.
The defense seemingly always needs plenty of work. At some point in 2025, Harold Perkins should be back from a lower-body injury. Peterson and former Nebraska edge Jimari Butler should add some beef and explosiveness to a defensive line in dire need of it.
In an offseason with plenty of change, the one constant is quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. For the record, I’m driving the Nuss Buss in 2025. He’s my favorite quarterback in college football, and I don’t see why he can’t have a Heisman Trophy-caliber season.
But here comes the million-dollar question…how does this roster all come together? And how quickly can these players gel?
We’re going to find out in a hurry, with LSU hitting the road to take on Clemson on August 30. It almost goes without saying, but that game carries massive implications. If LSU wins, the Tiger hype train will go through the roof, with fans dreaming of a College Football Playoff berth. If LSU loses, well, then fans and pundits will play the schedule game and be forced to do math to determine how much wiggle room the team will have the rest of the way.
Regardless of the Clemson result, things won’t get much easier for LSU. The Tigers have remaining road games against Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Alabama and Oklahoma. LSU also has home games against Florida, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Arkansas.
Make no bones about it, that’s a difficult schedule. But the Tigers have done all they can do, and should be ready for a big year in 2025. If Nussmeier and the offense can hit the lofty heights I think they can, this team feels CFP-ready from where I sit.
As the 2025 season beckons, the stakes couldn’t be hire for LSU and Brian Kelly.
The stage is set. The crowd waits in anticipation. The spotlight is on, and it’s time for the Tigers to put on a show.
College football seasons can feel a lot like a Broadway production. There are acts. Intermissions. Cheers. And sometimes tears.
Time will tell if LSU’s 2025 season is worthy of a curtain call.