LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier Reminds Brian Kelly It’s His 4th Year, And Playoffs Are A Must

GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

Just in case, coach Brian Kelly needed reminding that he will be in his fourth season at LSU this fall with the first three void of playoffs, fifth-year senior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier sent him a memo, so to speak.

“I’m worried about doing the best I can do to help LSU win a national championship,” Nussmeier said over the weekend after a spring practice. “That’s the mindset. That’s the energy and intensity that I bring every single day.”

FIVE THINGS TO KEEP AN EYE ON DURING LSU SPRING PRACTICE

The question was would he have a significant jump in production in his second season as a starter the way Joe Burrow did in 2019 and Jayden Daniels in 2023 with both winning the Heisman Trophy in those seasons, and Burrow winning the national championship.

“That’s not really my focus,” Nussmeier said. “It’s not about me. It’s not about the transition or the year two. It’s about LSU football and year four under coach Kelly. What are we going to do?”

Kelly said late last season that LSU would play for a national championship in the 2025-26 season – sort of.

BRIAN KELLY PREDICTS A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME FOR THE TIGERS

Then he went about recruiting and signing the No. 1 NCAA Transfer Portal class of 2025, including new weapons for Nussmeier in highly ranked receivers Barion Brown of Kentucky and Nic Anderson of Oklahoma.

But is it too early to talk national championship for the Tigers, a team that finished 9-4 last season with a three-game losing streak in October and November and a finish in the third tier Texas Bowl?

“I don’t think so,” Nussmeier said. “I think that from the jump we’ve kind of set our standard of where we believe that we should be. I guess you could say it’s an intensity of the way we attack every single day – that we believe we should be playing in late January.”

Notice he said “late” January. The CFP national semifinals are on Jan. 8 and 9, which would be early January. The 2025-26 CFP national championship game is set for Jan. 19, 2026, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Apparently, Kelly and Nussmeier plan to be there. So, get your tickets now?

“We believe that we are a national championship football team,” Nussmeier said. “And that’s not saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to win the national championship.’ It’s saying, ‘Let’s hold ourselves to that standard because that’s who we believe we are.’ And that’s where it starts.”

The season starts on Aug. 30 at Clemson, which finished 10-4 and at No. 14 in the final Associated Press poll after last season. LSU finished unranked.

CADEN DURHAM LEADS FOCUS ON NEW RUNNING GAME

Until then, Nussmeier will be working with Brown and Anderson and returning wide receivers Chris Hilton, Aaron Anderson and Zavion Thomas.

“It’s very deep,” he said. “We have a lot of talent. We have a lot of receivers who can go get the football. And we’ve got guys who will make plays with the ball in their hands. We have a very dynamic room. We have different guys for different roles. I would say it’s a very competitive room. They push each other. They understand the standard. That’s what we expect here. It’s Wide Receiver U. for a reason.”