LSU Football Preview 2025: Brian Kelly Has Been Better Than You Think
It's so easy to dunk on Brian Kelly.Touchdown Jesus knows, Notre Dame fans love to spend their idle time doing just that, as they meme away about how their program is rocking and rolling under Marcus Freeman, while LSU played for the Texas Bowl.Kelly provides plenty of material with a screamy rant here, a punched table there, and a few goofy-fun things to lighten the mood. Such is the life of being a high-profile head coach at a school that demands national titles, or at least College Football Playoff appearances. But Kelly has been better so far than he gets credit for ... sort of.
X CFN, Fiu | CFN Facebook | Bluesky Fiu, CFN LSU Offense BreakdownLSU Defense BreakdownSeason Prediction, Win Total, Keys to SeasonLSU has yet to win an SEC Championship, and it hasn't been all that close to winning a national title. It got to the 2022 title game and lost to Georgia 50-30, right after losing to a Texas A&M team that finished with a losing record.Kelly is 0-3 now at LSU in season openers, last year's team collapsed just when it was time to kick it in, the defenses haven't been great, and …
Nick Saban went 28-12 in his first three seasons at LSU. Brian Kelly is 29-11.In three seasons, Kelly has half as many double-digit win runs at LSU as Kentucky has enjoyed in 109 years of college football, half as many as South Carolina has put up in 117 seasons, one fewer than Mississippi State has logged in 120 years, two more than the none from Vanderbilt in its football history, as many as Auburn has scored since the 2010 national title campaign, and …Texas A&M has as many double-digit win seasons since leaving the Southwest Conference as Brian Kelly has cranked out in the last three years.
There's a LOT to criticize Brian Kelly about - I can not believe how much I defend him - but the dude is the winningest head football coach at the University of Notre Dame, and last year was the first in eight seasons that he didn't win double-digit games - he won nine.At just about any other school, considering the crash at the end of the Ed Orgeron era, there would be statues created for a coach who won 39 games with three bowl victories - and a Heisman winner - in his first three years. But this is LSU.
The school's last three head coaches all won national titles. Orgeron did it in his fourth full season. Les Miles won it all in Year Three, but Saban did it in his fourth year.This is Brian Kelly's fourth season in Baton Rouge. It's National Championship Winning time.(Or, by any reasonable standard, at least get to the College Football Playoff.) LSU Offense BreakdownLSU Defense BreakdownSeason Prediction, Win Total, Keys to Season
© 2025 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Angel Reese Becomes Fastest in WNBA History to Hit Major Milestone on Tuesday
Angel Reese Becomes Fastest in WNBA History to Hit Major Milestone on Tuesday originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Chicago Sky are certainly not off to the start they had hoped for this season, despite hiring first-year head coach Tyler Marsh and making several key offseason additions. Advertisement After finishing 13-27 last year, the Sky entered Tuesday night's matchup against the Los Angeles Sparks with a 3-10 record and riding a three-game losing streak. On the bright side, second-year forward Angel Reese continues to shine. Drafted No. 7 overall in 2024 out of LSU, Reese has quickly become the focal point of the Sky's roster and is already regarded as one of the WNBA's brightest young stars. At halftime against the Sparks—with the Sky trailing 48-42—Reese had tallied four points, four rebounds, and four assists. According to "Polymarket Hoops," Reese is now the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 150-plus rebounds and 50-plus assists in a single season. Her passing game has shown significant growth since her rookie year. Earlier in the first quarter, Reese became the fastest player in WNBA history to record over 600 points and 600 rebounds in her young career. Advertisement Through her first 13 games of the season, Reese is averaging a double-double with 10.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.7 steals per game, while shooting 37.4% from the field and 76.3% from the free-throw line. Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5).© David Butler II-Imagn Images Fans reacted to Reese making WNBA history: "Most improved player?" A fan suggested. Another fan posted, "I read the first half and said 'no shot' and then I realized." Someone else added, "Angel Reese ain't gone let nobody else get a board I'll tell you that." One more fan commented, "Angel Reese is becoming a point forward and I'm just so happy." Advertisement Related: Kamilla Cardoso Has Strong Words About Caitlin Clark, WNBA Growth This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
USA Today
5 hours ago
- USA Today
CBS Sports releases 'best, worst case scenarios' for MSU football this season
Michigan State football could be in for a very exciting fall on the gridiron or the bottom could completely fall out -- those are the best and worst case scenarios, per Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports. Fornelli did his annual best and worst case scenarios for each of the Big Ten teams in a recent article, and to no surprise, there is quite a bit variance for the Spartans. If you're looking at the bright side of things, Fornelli sees the Spartans being in contention for a College Football Playoff berth into November and finishing with a 9-3 record as the best case scenario for this upcoming season. On the flip side, the worst case scenario includes an early season loss to Boston College that essentially derails the year and results in the Spartans finishing 3-9. As I said, those are distant from each other meaning Michigan State has a wide variance for this upcoming season. Here's the positive best case scenario outlook from Fornelli: "Aidan Chiles shows development, and while his accuracy continues to be a problem, his decision-making improves tremendously, leading to far fewer turnovers. He also makes enough wow throws to fill social media with highlights. The Spartans knock off Michigan at home thanks to Chiles and a rapidly improving defense under Joe Rossi. A loss to Penn State in November ends the playoff dreams, but when Chiles announces he intends to return for 2026, the nation immediately begins hyping this program up as a 2026 dark horse." And here's the negative worst case scenario outlook: "Aidan Chiles continues to make bad decisions that lead to turnovers and continuously put the Michigan State defense in bad positions. An early loss to Boston College shakes the team's confidence a bit, and it craters following consecutive road losses to USC and Nebraska. Things only get worse down the stretch, and Chiles is benched before hitting the portal following the season, leading to a lot of question marks about Jonathan Smith's program heading into 2026." In reading through Fornelli's assessment, I really have no objections as I also consider Michigan State a true wildcard team for this upcoming season. I recently wrote about how the Spartans have the potential to reach the College Football Playoff if some key things go in their way this season. But I also fear they could hit some rough patches and be battling it out just to reach bowl eligibility again late in November. With any of these best and worst case scenario articles, it often lands somewhere in the middle. So with that being said, it sounds like Fornelli would peg Michigan State to be about a 6-6 team this upcoming season (maybe give or take one win). Getting to a bowl game is extremely important for the Spartans and Smith this upcoming fall, so they better get to six wins to keep this fanbase relatively happy. Click on the post below to read the complete story from Fornelli: Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
Miami Herald
6 hours ago
- Miami Herald
LSU Football Preview 2025: Tigers Season Prediction, Win Total Projection, Top Players
LSU Tigers Key to the Season Make more big defensive is LSU. It has among the best defensive backs in the country, but they're young and/or new. Last year's secondary wasn't awful, but the pass defense got roasted by USC at the beginning of the season, was ripped up in the win over Baylor in the end, and it only picked off six Tigers were 6-0 when coming up with an interception, and 3-4 when they didn't. LSU Tigers Key Player Tyree Adams, OT Soph.A good recruit - but not among the elite of the elite - Adams stepped up last year as a backup when he wasn't starting at guard. Now the 6-7, 310-pounder will be tried out at left he has to do is replace Will Campbell while keeping Garrett Nussmeier from getting popped.X CFN, Fiu | CFN Facebook | Bluesky Fiu, CFN2025 LSU PreviewLSU Offense BreakdownLSU Defense Breakdown LSU Tigers Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss Top Transfer In: Patrick Payton, EDGE Sr.A tall, skinny pass rusher when he came to Florida State, he's always had the athleticism and upside, and then he filled out and became a terror with 16 sacks and 32 tackles for loss over the last three seasons. He should be an All-SEC star at one of the LSU Transfer Out: CJ Daniels, WR started his career as a star at Liberty, averaging over 18 yards per catch with 21 touchdowns in his 106-catch four-year run. He came to LSU and was fine, making 42 grabs for 480 yards. The Tiger receiving corps is more than fine, but it's losing a veteran who should light it up for Miami. LSU Tigers Key Game at Clemson, Aug. 30USC 27, LSU 20 … Florida State 45, LSU 24 … Florida State 24, LSU 23 … UCLA 38, LSU 27 … Mississippi State 44, LSU 34 …LSU has lost five straight season openers since the epic 2019 national championship season, and each one all but ruined any national title hopes before things got going. Florida is coming up two weeks later, and a trip to Ole Miss is still up in Clemson, LSU.- 2025 LSU Schedule Breakdown LSU Tigers Top 10 Players 1. Garrett Nussmeier, QB Sr.2. Whit Weeks, LB Jr.3. Patrick Payton, EDGE Sr.4. Harold Perkins, Jr. LB Jr.5. Aaron Anderson, WR Jr.6. Mansoor Delane, CB Sr.7. Ashton Stamps, CB Soph.8. Jack Pyburn EDGE Sr.9. Nic Anderson, WR Jr.10. Barion Brown, WR/KR Sr. LSU Tigers 2024 Fun Stats - LSU Scoring: 2nd Quarter 147, 3rd Quarter 69- Sacks: LSU 34 for 214 yards, Opponents 15 for 126 yards- Fumbles: Opponents 21 (lost 8), LSU 10 (lost 5) LSU Tigers 2025 Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen There are just enough unavoidable landmines to prevent this from being a dominant run, but it's not a hard enough schedule to ask for anything less than a 10-2 record and a trip to the College Football Arkansas, Florida, and South Carolina won't be easy, but those three are in Baton Rouge, so …At Alabama, at Clemson, at Oklahoma, at Ole Miss, Texas A&M. Those five games are the problem. Go 4-1, and LSU is in the College Football Playoff. Go 3-2, and it gets dicey. 2-3, and forget it. LSU will do well in the big battles, but it'll biff one of those home games, either to Florida or South Carolina, to be just on the CFP outside looking The LSU Win Total At … 8.5Likely Wins: Louisiana Tech, SE Louisiana, WKU50/50 Games: at Alabama, Arkansas, at Clemson, Florida, at Oklahoma, at Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas A&M, at VanderbiltLikely Losses: No projected sure-thing losses 2025 LSU PreviewLSU Offense BreakdownLSU Defense Breakdown © 2025 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
