Can Brian Kelly and LSU win it all?

BATON ROUGE, La. -- There is simply a quiescent anticipation wrong the recently expanded LSU shot operations center, adjacent though the play is inactive months away. In the value room, players spell done the summertime conditioning program, hollering encouragement and straining to deed unsocial benchmarks assigned to them. They person a singular absorption taking hold.

On the screens astir them, erstwhile they interruption down the extremity of a workout oregon erstwhile they substance each different successful radical chats, each they spot is "1-0." Everyone successful the gathering knows what that means: Beat Clemson successful the play opener.

Upstairs, Ya'el Lofton bustles astir her desk, waiting for manager Brian Kelly to arrive. Lofton has worked astatine LSU for much than 35 years -- including astir 25 arsenic the enforcement adjunct to the caput coach. "You know," she says with a large smile, "every caput manager I person worked for has won a nationalist championship."

Her quiescent anticipation, of course, is for Kelly to articulation Nick Saban, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron arsenic a nationalist champion. LSU went into the transportation portal, flush with much wealth to spend, and brought successful 1 of the apical classes successful the country. Veteran backmost Garrett Nussmeier returns, on with a much experienced antiaircraft staff.

Every determination has been calculated and points to this being a championship-or-bust season. But that each starts Aug. 30. LSU has ne'er won an opener nether Kelly. In fact, the Tigers person begun each of their past 5 seasons with a loss. So Kelly isn't talking astir the extremity of the season. He is conscionable talking astir the beginning.

"I've ne'er truly been, 'It's each oregon nothing,'" Kelly says. "This twelvemonth is simply a alteration successful our philosophy, successful that we person to absorption connected Clemson. Our absorption has to beryllium playing our precise champion successful that archetypal week."

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WHEN KELLY HELD his archetypal squad gathering successful January, helium had the newcomers -- transfers and aboriginal enrollee freshmen -- present themselves and explicate wherefore they wanted to travel to LSU. Kelly says each transportation said the aforesaid thing: "I'm present to triumph a championship."

As Kelly sees it, this is the archetypal clip since his astonishment determination from Notre Dame to LSU 4 years agone that helium has had everything successful spot to vie for a championship: much fiscal support, assemblage alignment, a much experienced staff, a civilization built by players helium has helped make and transfers acceptable to capable the evident holes.

When asked whether the roster and unit helium has assembled for this twelvemonth is 1 that tin triumph a title, Kelly says yes. But helium besides throws successful a caveat oregon two.

"It's been a process, right?" Kelly says. "It's similar thing else. It takes a small spot of time. This authorities relies connected success. The politician told maine the different nighttime their champion Mondays are aft a win. We each cognize what that means and the expectations of it. But I enactment focused connected the process of gathering it."

Kelly contended for an SEC rubric successful Year 1 successful 2022 with young upstart backmost (and aboriginal Heisman Trophy winner) Jayden Daniels, but helium thinks that mightiness person created unreasonable extracurricular expectations for his program. Kelly says that play did not alteration the trajectory of the programme nether his leadership.

"Those are the radical that don't person capable information," Kelly says. "They're conscionable reacting emotionally, and you're going to person that, and that's great. We emotion that passion. With that passionateness comes unrealistic thoughts."

LSU won 10 games again successful 2023, but contempt Daniels' champion efforts, the Tigers fell abbreviated of different SEC title crippled quality owed to its mediocre defense. LSU ranked No. 105 successful the state successful full defence that season, allowing a whopping 6.14 yards per play and 28 points per game. Kelly revamped the full antiaircraft unit but saw mixed results successful 2024 nether Blake Baker.

That, combined with inconsistent play from Nussmeier, led to a 9-4 play and questions astir whether Kelly was inching person to blistery spot territory. The debased constituent came successful a 42-13 location nonaccomplishment to Alabama successful November, erstwhile a smattering of fans booed Kelly disconnected the tract and shouted for him to find a mode retired of Baton Rouge.

Afterward, Kelly said his squad "didn't play to the modular of LSU football."

Baker returns, much seasoned and experienced. But determination are different reasons Kelly feels LSU mightiness conscionable that precocious humanities modular this season. First, helium believes the roster and civilization are successful overmuch amended shape. Second, LSU was acold much assertive successful the transportation portal.

"We weren't committed to going into the portal successful the mode that we were this year, and that committedness is successful each areas," Kelly says. "It's a fiscal commitment. ... Quite frankly, we weren't acceptable arsenic a programme to immerse ourselves profoundly into the portal up until this year.

"The instauration was inactive being built, and you request a beardown culture. When you spell into the portal and you bring successful 13, 14 guys, they instantly immerse themselves into thing that's established. We inactive needed different overgarment of paint, and truthful the timing was right, the committedness was better, and we intelligibly knew wherever our holes were that we needed to address. This was overmuch much astir fitting the culture."

The fiscal committedness is simply a important one. Kelly and his wife, Paqui, decided to lucifer donations up to $1 cardinal for the shot team's name, representation and likeness efforts. Kelly says aft helium made that announcement successful March, 1,600 donors gave wealth to LSU.

As a effect of a much assertive attack to the portal, LSU landed 1 of the champion transportation classes successful the country: 2 top-five wide receivers (Barion Brown and Nic Anderson), the No. 1 cornerback (Mansoor Delane), the No. 1 antiaircraft extremity (Pat Payton), 2 of the champion interior linemen (Braelin Moore, Josh Thompson) and 1 of the apical choky ends successful Oklahoma transportation Bauer Sharp.

LSU besides signed anticipated antiaircraft difference-makers Jack Pyburn, Jimari Butler and antiaircraft tackle Sydir Mitchell. In addition, they had 13 aboriginal enrollees, including No. 1 cornerback DJ Pickett. Harold Perkins Jr., a Freshman All-American successful 2022 who missed overmuch of past play with a torn ACL, is expected to beryllium steadfast for the opener.

But adjacent fixed each the moves LSU has made, Kelly says helium does not consciousness immoderate much unit to present a title successful 2025.

"What it truly means is that LSU shot is among the elite," Kelly says. "Only 1 squad goes location with that championship. [The fans] privation to bash it each year. But they privation an elite shot team. They privation 1 that is competing for a championship. 9-4 is not competing for a championship. You're retired of the treatment erstwhile you suffer your 3rd game. And truthful it's my occupation to enactment this programme backmost successful elite status."

Kelly is asked whether the programme is astatine elite presumption now.

"We'll spell find out," helium says.

THAT BRINGS US backmost to Clemson. LSU has not won a play opener since 2019, the twelvemonth Joe Burrow led the Tigers to their past nationalist championship. The past 3 opening losses, nether Kelly, came successful neutral site, marquee nationalist spotlight games -- 2 to Florida State and 1 to USC past season, erstwhile the Trojans scored the winning touchdown with 8 seconds remaining.

Nussmeier was the backmost then, and helium volition beryllium the backmost again erstwhile LSU plays Clemson for the archetypal clip since ... the nationalist rubric crippled successful 2020. He returned for a last play with the Tigers to bring a nationalist title backmost to LSU. But if that is the extremity goal, beating Clemson is the archetypal goal.

"In the past, we possibly person looked excessively acold guardant astatine the season, truthful I deliberation that's been a precise bully caput power for us," Nussmeier said. "Coach Kelly has made it precise wide what our mindset is going into Week 1.

"I haven't seen that since I've been here. When you're astatine LSU, you person expectations. Everybody talks about, 'Can LSU triumph the nationalist championship?' It's not, 'Can LSU marque a vessel game?' So portion we acknowledge, yes, our extremity is to triumph a nationalist championship, it starts with beating Clemson Week 1."

Given the 12-team College Football Playoff, a nonaccomplishment to Clemson would not automatically destruct LSU from title contention. But the programme does not privation to commencement the play with doubts. Getting retired of the gross with a triumph would beryllium huge.

"Once we execute that goal, that momentum that we're going to get from that win, who knows wherever it leads us," Sharp said.

For his part, Kelly has his ain quiescent assurance astir the season. As Kelly has pointed out, helium has won everyplace helium has been, from Division II Grand Valley State to Notre Dame. When helium near the Irish, helium was the program's all-time winningest coach.

When helium got to LSU, helium told The Associated Press, "I privation to beryllium successful an situation wherever I person the resources to triumph a nationalist championship," a connection that resurfaced this past play aft Notre Dame made it to the nationalist rubric game, portion Kelly has yet to get determination with the Tigers.

The resources present look to beryllium successful place. In summation to the renewed fiscal committedness and assertive portal push, LSU expanded its operations halfway past twelvemonth with a caller betterment suite that includes everything from nutrition and fueling stations, a reimagined diversion grooming and rehab area, positive a hydrotherapy suite and interval tanks designed to assistance players "achieve heavy relaxation and intelligence clarity."

Whether that translates into a title is inactive to beryllium determined. In a fewer weeks, the quiescent anticipation volition turn much urgent arsenic practices statesman and the play inches person to that precise archetypal goal: Beat Clemson and get to 1-0.