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By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
Ahhhh another season at LSU Football begins....LSUOdyssey previewed it all with a few thoughts a week ago, but now we return to delve into the upcoming campaign further....and what better place to start than with LSU's Head Coach, Brian Kelly, now entering his 4th year:
Regardless of coaching changes, player departures, or how well LSU's SEC rivals performed the year prior, preseason expectations always remained sky high at LSU football throughout the 21st century, with 3 championships & another title game appearance from 2003-2024 backing up those high program / fanbase standards.
But for the first time in the Brian Kelly era, now entering his 4th campaign at the helm of the Bayou Bengals, Kelly is feeling the fire of those standards. In 2025, the expectation for Kelly's LSU Tigers won't be to merely win games or contend for the SEC, Coach Kelly is staring down intense pressure to compete for a National Championship right now...
Coach Kelly isn't saddled with the same "win a championship or you're fired" scenario as Ohio State's Ryan Day faced this past December, and yet the consequences of high stakes college football are much the same: Kelly has been mandated by the fanbase, beat media, and national talking heads with a CFP Playoff qualification bench mark.
If the Tigers fall short of the 12 team tournament this fall, the faith & belief in Kelly would likely plummet.
Over 3 full years, Coach Kelly was given complete control over hiring & firing, signed a Heisman winning QB, enjoyed a record breaking offense including a receiver who lost the Biletnikoff Award by a single vote, an offense that contained 4 first round picks (Daniels, Nabers, Thomas, Campbell), joined by a staff that is a legitimate contender for the best in America, supported by a large swath of NIL cash to fill holes within his current roster, and experiencing nearly 3 complete seasons of patience, grace & understanding from the fanbase (during Kelly's roster rebuild after the Orgeron era) and still, in 2022, 2023 and 2024, LSU fell short of their championship standards.
Although Kelly won 3 games over top 14 squads (headlined by the eternal promise of his ballsy 2 point conversion win over Saban's top 10 Alabama), Kelly's Tigers lost 6 critical showdowns against top ranked opponents over his trio of seasons, suffering significant double digit blowouts against 6 different top 15 teams, as well as continuing a Week 1 losing streak that dates back 5 years, watching on as his Tigers were routinely outmatched, even bullied during these high profile, primetime contests.
Now in 2025, there won't be anymore room for excuses about "Coach O ruining the roster back in 2021", the acumen of his staff, or LSU's athletic department being shy about throwing around NIL money.....
From a 10,000 foot view, 2025 is shaping up to be a weaker, wilder, wide open SEC conference, much like 2023 & 2024, without Nick Saban for another year, at a time when perennial powers Alabama & Georgia remain in a rough patch, as Kiffin's Ole Miss must figure out their daunting roster rebuild, comparatively speaking, Kelly's LSU Tigers should be in pole position to strike this fall.
During his time at LSU, there has never been this much outside pressure or, in equal measure, high octane expectations from within for Brian Kelly to navigate, and yet despite losing 4 of his 5 starting offensive linemen, the program's all time tight end, and starting defensive end pair to the upcoming NFL Draft, there is a steady-handed excitement bubbling under the surface at LSU Operations Center:
Heading into Spring 2025 armed with the nation's most stacked & highest paid coaching staff embracing the challenge, possessing one of the country's best quarterbacks in Garrett Nussmeier, the deepest & arguably most talented skill position stable within the SEC, defensive powerhouses like Harold Perkins, Whit Weeks, and Patrick Payton, as well as strong youth & veteran pieces developing across the squad, nothing short of a playoff run will be acceptable for college football's most intensely committed fanbase.
And regardless of their intense loyalty to Coach Kelly, LSU Nation wants to see results....
By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
©️ 2025 Uninterrupted Writings Inc
There is a lunatic fringe of supposed Tiger fans that loathe Coach Kelly. The adjectives they use would seemingly come from an opposing fan base, not our own. I am right with you. He must produce this year or a defeatism will fester in the program. I am still rooting for Coach Kelly because I think he can build a sustained program. At the same time, he is at the crossroads in 2025.