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LSU coach Brian Kelly understands the expectations that come with coaching at LSU. After all, the last three men to hold his job all led the Tigers to national titles. Heading into Year 4 at the program, Kelly is driving home a playoff-or-bust mindset this fall for a team that exhausted resources to build a complete roster.
Kelly has more victories than any other active coach in college football, but none of that matters if the Tigers fail to conquer a loaded slate, beginning with mass improvements on defense. Blake Baker’s first campaign as defensive coordinator last season was a notch better than 2023, but that’s not saying much when that unit was one of the worst in program history.
“We needed to give him more tools,” Kelly said. “I know we haven’t played the kind of defense necessary to win a national championship. We’ve given Blake, now, the tools, to play championship-level defense. Clearly, the 2023 offensive football team we had was good enough to win the national championship, but we weren’t good enough as a team.
“A lot of that was addressing the shortcoming we had on defense. I love our seriousness and focus and intent. Anytime you go on the road and play a team like Clemson (in the opener), you better bring a defense with you.”
Kelly is 0-3 in openers at LSU and the Tigers haven’t won their first game to start a season since last winning a national title in 2019. Clemson is currently a three-point favorite to win the opener, according to DraftKings Sportsbook.
Headlining LSU’s top-ranked transfer portal class were instant-impact defenders Jack Plyburn (Florida EDGE), A.J. Haulcy (Houston safety), Patrick Payton (Florida State EDGE) and Sydir Mitchell (Texas nose tackle), among others.
Monday’s spotlight also shone brightly…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/2025-sec-media-days-takeaways-lsu-eyes-opening-statement-against-clemson-vanderbilt-qb-diego-pavia-impresses/
Author : Brad Crawford
Publish date : 2025-07-14 20:11:00
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