Through Aug. 22, Sports Illustrated will count down its preseason college football Top 25 with overviews of each team. Here are the full rankings so far.
The final few months of 2024 were not kind to Brian Kelly.
The LSU coach saw his team disappointingly slip from being a potential College Football Playoff contender to firmly in the middle of the pack in the SEC. The Tigers sandwiched getting blown out by Alabama in Death Valley with a pair of dispirited conference losses to other rivals. Just about everybody around Baton Rouge, save the upper ranks of the administration, started to wonder if this was an ill-conceived marriage that was barrelling off the tracks as the team ended the year unranked.
To really twist the knife, Kelly’s most recent place of employment—the one he spurned because he claimed he couldn’t win a national championship there—made it to the CFP title game. While Notre Dame lost that one to Ohio State, the Irish are well positioned to keep making such runs under Kelly’s successor Marcus Freeman and have suddenly become a far more likable program.
Not exactly the grand plan Kelly had in mind when he jumped ship almost four years ago.
While there is always pressure on the head coach of LSU, all that transpired last season certainly ramps it up for 2025. The Tigers return a potential top draft pick at quarterback, have the usual slew of speedy skill position talent and are primed to make another jump on defense with what they return. Recruiting has not slacked off and there was a notable amount of transfer portal activity this offseason for the program too after a few years of complaints about not using the school’s resources to maximum effect.
But at some point, the results have to happen on the field—even against difficult schedules like the one LSU faces this season, which includes an opener at another top-10 team in Clemson. The talent is there to make a legitimate run at the playoff, and maybe even win it all if they catch a break, but we’ve sat here before in the preseason saying the same thing.
Can Kelly get over the hump and put the past behind him? He has the team to do it, but seeing it coalesce into winning this fall as expected will be something hovering over the program from kickoff until the postseason.
Fast Facts
2024 record: 9–4, 5–3 SEC
Offense: 30.5 ppg (47th in FBS), 6.19 yards per play (35th)
Defense: 24.3 ppg (59th in FBS), 5.88 yards per play (89th)
On the Headset
Brian Kelly, entering Year 4 in Baton Rouge, 313–108–2 overall record, 29–11 with the Tigers
On the surface, Kelly is the most accomplished SEC head coach not named Kirby Smart. He’s won over 300 games in college football, produced a Heisman Trophy winner at LSU and made it to Atlanta for the conference title game. He has guided the team to some big victories during his first three seasons in charge and even helped turn around the Tigers’ NIL operation (putting up some of his own money in the process).
But the fact is every LSU head coach in the past quarter-century has won a national title and that’s what Kelly came to town to do. He hasn’t come close to doing that and until he does, his tenure won’t come close to being judged a success. It doesn’t help matters that he’s a Massachusetts outsider who has taken some self-inflicted losses, between trying too hard to fit in or letting things slip on the field in areas that Tigers fans typically take pride in (namely, defense).
Worse, he’s gotten off on the wrong foot every season by going a hard-to-fathom 0–3 in openers. That instantly puts you behind in the court of public opinion and makes the climb during the fall that much harder. Kelly is a good enough coach that you trust to figure it out eventually, but nobody involved in this coaching arrangement is acknowledging that LSU is getting its money’s worth from its big splashy hire just yet.
Key Returning Starter
QB Garrett Nussmeier, RS Sr.
There’s been some talk that Nussmeier could be a first-round pick in 2026 if he continues on his current trajectory. He seriously considered making the jump to the NFL this past offseason before returning to campus. His first full year as a starter was a good one (4,052 yards, 29 touchdowns), but he’s still capable of doing more by cutting down on his interceptions (12, including a number in big games) and playing within the offense more instead of taking some high-risk throws. He’ll have almost a completely new offensive line in front of him which could complicate his progress, but he’s a veteran who has seen a lot of football and is capable of leading LSU to greater things.
Key Transfer
DE Patrick Payton, from Florida State
LSU was aggressive in the portal this season and really went hard at addressing its key needs along the defensive front. Payton is a top-notch edge rusher who started every game for the Seminoles the last two years. He’s got an impressive burst for someone with a 6' 6" frame and had quality production under his belt in notching 16 sacks and 32 TFL. The Tigers were dreadful in closing out opponents on third down last season and they need Payton and fellow transfer Jack Pyburn to make a difference in getting after the quarterback in those situations in 2025.
Key Departure
TE Mason Taylor, second-round NFL draft pick by the New York Jets
Taylor set a host of school records for tight ends and was incredibly dependable whenever the quarterback needed an outlet in the middle of the field or to move the sticks. He was a solid blocker when called upon but really complemented the Tigers’ speedy weapons on the outside when the passing game was clicking. Yes, No. 4 overall pick Will Campbell will be missed around the Bayou, but having Taylor wiggling free on third down will be hard to replace fully coming into this season.
Circle the Dates
- Aug. 30, at Clemson
- Sept. 13, vs. Florida
- Oct. 25, vs. Texas A&M
- Nov. 8, at Alabama
Bottom Line
The tone will be set early on for LSU as to whether or not all the hot-seat talk around Kelly is real or imagined with critical games at Clemson and against Florida in the first three weeks of the season. The defense should continue to make strides under DC Blake Baker and not be quite the Achilles’ heel it has been, while Nussmeier and a talented group of receivers and running backs should help mitigate having to replace most of the offensive line. This is a team capable of competing with any other in the country, but you still want to see them string together a bunch of wins in a row before firmly stamping them as a true CFP contender.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sports Illustrated’s College Football Preseason Top 25: No. 9 LSU.