LSU football has wrapped up its fourth day of spring football on Tuesday morning, but this was the first time that I got to check out how the Tigers are doing. With a new head coach, new assistant coaches, and players, Lane Kiffin’s focus is primarily on getting the fundamentals and basics right before anything else.
“We constantly work on chemistry, but I’m not as concerned with that right now. We are working on the fundamentals. We are starting with the beginning, footwork, how to tackle without tackling yet, etc. Chemistry is more of a training camp thing in my opinion.”
“It’s much more about the day to day process and always trying to find a way to improve our players, coach better, and get them to the highest level.”
LSU HC Lane Kiffin
All three quarterbacks were throwing today, but Elon transfer Landon Clark and USC transfer Husan Longstreet were the only two quarterbacks working 11v11 drills and the quarterback run drill. Arizona State transfer Sam Leavitt was throwing a lot, but did not involve himself on any running drill as he is still recovering from a season ending right foot injury last year.
“For them (Landon and Husan), it is great because they get so many extra reps. Like everything in life, there is a cost and a benefit. Obviously, we would love to have Sam take all the team reps fully healthy, but because he is not, it benefits them. They have done a really good job with that because now, they are the 1’s. It’s challenging for Sam because he is competitive and it bothers him that he can’t do more.”
LSU HC Lane Kiffin
Despite a couple of familiar faces at running back like Caden Durham and Harlem Berry and Trey’Dez Green, who was in a black non-contact jersey today, the skill positions have golden opportunities for players to emerge. There have been a couple that caught the eye.
Working with running backs coach Kevin Smith, Wisconsin transfer Dillin Jones physically looks solid at 5’11, 211 pounds and was near the front of most of the drills along with Durham and Berry.
At receiver, there is a lot of speed and quickness at the position with Jayce Brown, Tre Wilson, Winnie Watkins, and Roman Mothershed showing that they can stretch the field.
“Explosive plays have always been a factor when you look at analytics in winning games. It is not what you draw up, but you got to have the players. To have a number of players that have made plays in the receiving room is important. We try to balance the room more instead of being really top heavy with one or two. We have been at our best when we have had four to six receivers that can all play really well. That is what we are striving here with the players that are here and that they can be at their best for the duration of the season and the postseason.”
LSU HC Lane Kiffin
Perhaps the best job of recruiting for Kiffin when coming to LSU was keeping Blake Baker as the defensive coordinator. While the offense looks new, Kiffin knows that the defense is in good hands and that they can only build upon its success last year.
“Obviously playing LSU every year like we did at the previous place, you got to witness the transformation defensively when Blake got here and how that improved each season. I was very pleased that we were able to keep him. That really helps with player transition. If you start over on both sides, it’s like creating an expansion team nowadays because you have to basically scratch. It was really critical to keep him because he does a great job continuing to improve them and now we want to go on to another level and play really physical dominant defense that creates a lot of havoc and turnovers, but at the same time, plays with some great discipline.”
LSU HC Lane Kiffin
Coach Kiffin also raved about Corey Raymond and being able to bring him back as part of that defensive staff.
“I knew about Corey over the years because of the success that he had and how well he recruited. Very rarely you find both. You make decisions on guys that are very good recruiters or really good coaches and you put together your staff. Sometimes, you find guys that are elite at both and he is one of them. If you can find them at a place that they are passionate about too, it’s a rare trifecta.”
LSU HC Lane Kiffin
Last weekend, the defensive front suffered a blow with Gabriel Reliford being out for the season. The first team defensive line consisted of Dominick McKinley and Deuce Geralds on the inside with Jordan Ross and Princewill Umanmielen on the outside. When LSU went to the dime package, we saw DJ Pickett and Ja’Keem Jackson as the cornerbacks, Dashawn Spears at dime, and Tamarcus Cooley and Ty Benefield as the safeties.
Stay tuned later on Thursday for another practice report!
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