LSU Football: National college football columnist takes a big shot at Tigers

LSU football is an interesting position this season as a program.

The Tigers are less than two years removed from hoisting the national championship trophy in New Orleans after a convincing win against Clemson in the College Football Playoff championship game.

LSU’s 2019 squad was arguably one of the best college football teams of all time.

The 2020 squad, however, left a lot to be desired. The Tigers went 5-5 last season, rallying to win the final two games of the season to avoid the program’s first losing record since 1999.

As a result of a disappointing 2020 season, there have been plenty of folks that have suggested the 2019 LSU team was a “one-hit wonder”.

Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel, a national college football columnist, is one of those folks. And he took some thinly veiled shots at Ed Orgeron and the Tigers this week.

Pete Thamel doesn’t seem to care for LSU football

On Monday, at SEC Media Days, Ed Orgeron reiterated that he brought Jake Peetz and DJ Mangas to Baton Rouge to run the “Joe Brady offense” in 2021.

(Peetz and Mangas, who will serve as LSU’s offensive coordinator and passing game coordinator, respectively, have both previously worked under Brady.)

Thamel essentially mocked Orgeron for calling the 2019 LSU offense one “the most prolific offenses in the history of football”.

From Yahoo Sports:

"LSU hired Jake Peetz as offensive coordinator and DJ Mangas as pass game coordinator, which Orgeron explicitly said was to “run Joe Brady’s offense of 2019.” He pointed out that it was one of “the most prolific offenses in the history of football” while failing to point out that it was run by a No. 1 draft pick throwing to two first-round picks and a second-round pick.He failed to point out that Peetz and Mangas, who were vital parts of Brady’s operation, are taking giant leaps. Peetz is in his first year as a coordinator at any level and Mangas has experience as William & Mary’s offensive coordinator."

I have no idea why Thamel felt compelled to write those sentences.

Does he think LSU won’t have any talent in 2021? Does he think Burrow is the only quarterback capable of running a prolific offense in Baton Rouge?

I think Thamel is forgetting that LSU has a plethora of talent on the roster. Quarterbacks Myles Brennan and Max Johnson could each be future first-round draft picks.

Kayshon Boutte, a former five-star recruit who was rated as the No. 2 wide receiver in the country in the 2020 signing class, caught 45 passes for 731 yards and five touchdowns as a true freshman last season.

That’s a better true freshman season than Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson each had at LSU.

The Tigers have wide receivers Koy Moore, Jaray Jenkins, Jontre Kirklin, Deion Smith, Brian Thomas, and Chris Hilton to lean on as well.

I’d say that’s plenty of talent.

Thamel just wanted to slam LSU and Orgeron for reasons that are beyond me.

He’ll have to eat his words this fall. And I hope fans don’t let him forget how he questioned Orgeron’s decision to return to what worked in 2019.