LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly Kickoffs Game Week With Press Conference

There was no depth chart, and no announcement on the starting quarterback for Sunday’s season opener against Florida State, but Coach Kelly did address the media on how the Tigers were approaching their week one opponent to kickoff game week.

Here are some notes from today’s press conference.

  • Coach Kelly said that the team is treating this day like a day off, which would usually be Sunday, but since game time is a day later on Sunday, the weekly schedule is thrown a day off so this is how Coach Kelly’s teams would prepare for a normal game week. Monday would be a mental day just to look into the opponent by watching film, looking at scouting reports, etc. Tuesday will be a day to focus on approaching practice with the right attitude and will be the most physical day of the week. Wednesday is about being gritty and having another padded practice during the week. It is the longest of the practices so there is a lot of focusing and refocusing on that specific day. Thursdays are about being perfect whether it is red zone situations, situational substitutions, third and long, etc. Then, it leads into Focus Friday, which is a walk-through situation for the team.

  • Coach Kelly then talked about Florida State, which is a team that he is quite familiar facing after playing them last year in the season opener. He talked about how challenging this Florida State team could be considering that the Fighting Irish played the Seminoles in an overtime game last season. Coach Kelly is impressed by their quarterback Jordan Travis, their defensive line, and also the fact that the Seminoles ran for over 400 yards in their season opener against Duquesne last week.

  • A lot of people were expecting Coach Kelly to name a starter today at the press conference. Kelly does know who the starting quarterback will be against Florida State, but he won’t reveal the starter until kickoff in order to give the Tigers a tactical advantage.

  • Coach Kelly was asked about how to defend a quarterback like Jordan Travis and his response was to key on stopping the run first. Coach said that stopping the run will help the defense in defending Travis when he has to be predictable throwing the football. He also said that Jordan Travis is also somebody the defense needs to contain inside the pocket and to not allow him make plays outside the pocket.

  • After Saturday’s practice, a major concern was that Malik Nabers did not participate in the practice. Coach Kelly reassured that Malik will be good to go this Sunday against Florida State. The reason Malik missed practice on Saturday was that he had an ankle sprain. Fortunately, he will be cleared for practice and will be ready to go come kickoff.

  • No matter who the starting quarterback will be, both Jayden Daniels and Garrett Nussmeier bring a lot of the same attributes to the table according to Coach Kelly. Both can make plays outside the pocket, and that there is not a dramatic difference between the two. He also reiterated that this is a 1A and a 1B situation at quarterback and not a 1 and a 2 situation. As far as how long Coach Kelly has known about who the starting quarterback would be, he responded by saying that he made the decision two days ago.

  • Although the starting quarterback was not announced, the starting kicker was announced with Damian Ramos being named the team’s starting placekicker. Meanwhile, the team’s leadoff kickoff specialist is still being played out.

  • Despite defeating Florida State last year in the season opener, Coach Kelly is taking a totally different approach to this year’s game plan as the Seminoles have a new offensive and defensive coordinator compared to last year.

  • Coach Kelly has emphasized changing the process and that even goes into game day as the team will actually workout in the Superdome Sunday morning, and that it will be a similar situation when the Tigers play a home night game in Tiger Stadium.

  • Along with making an announcement at kicker, the starting offensive line combination has been confirmed heading into the season opener. This is the starting lineup.
    • LT Will Campbell
    • LG Miles Frazier
    • C Garrett Dellinger
    • RG Anthony Bradford
    • RT Cam Wire

  • Coach Kelly wrapped up the press conference talking about how the nutrition, strength and conditioning, and medical personnel were all key in making this a healthy fall camp for the Tigers.

Next up for the Tigers, some of the LSU players will be available to speak to the media tomorrow.

To check out Brian Kelly’s entire press conference, click below!