Why it’s okay LSU Football isn’t the team we thought they were

The 2023 LSU Football team is not a group capable of competing in the College Football Playoff that we thought they were, and that’s okay.

LSU Football moved to 4-2 after a shootout win over Missouri. However, the No. 23-ranked Tigers are far from the team we thought they were before the 2023 season started. Indeed, prior to Week 1, I was one of many fans who felt LSU was going to shift the paradigm in the SEC West.

Like most of you, my outlook on the 2023 Tigers was overzealous. However, I feel that many LSU Football fans are struggling to admit such.

Brian Kelly’s squad was the preseason No. 5 team that was favored by many to win the SEC West for a second-straight season and challenge for a CFP berth. The Week 1 drubbing against Florida State contradicted everything we thought about the Tigers. Conversely, there were many excuses and benefits of the doubt circulating in Baton Rouge.

“I think LSU had an off night.”

“Florida State is a top 4 team.”

“Losing Maason Smith to suspension hurt the defense.”

“This is why LSU needs to play a Week 0 game.”

Regardless of the fans’ rationale, the Tigers limped out of Orlando in need of redemption. Aside from blowing out Mississippi State in Starkville, LSU has failed to redeem itself in the context of CFP contention.

LSU Football remains in transition

LSU Football is less than two years removed from Kelly’s hire as new head coach. Thus, the Tigers are less than halfway through the transition period necessary with a new head coach.

Not long ago, I brought up that Mike Norvell did not win ten games at Florida State until his third season. Likewise, Ed Orgeron didn’t win 10 games with LSU until his third season as head coach. O’s first season was interim, but he led the Tigers for eight games in 2016.

Regardless, LSU Football is a program transitioning from the mess Orgeron left behind to a brighter future under Kelly.

Expecting Kelly to lead his team to the CFP in year two is an unreasonable request. Furthermore, those of you who dispute the program’s abysmal state at the close of O’s tenure have forgotten a lot.

Kelly is cleaning up Orgeron’s mess

Less than two years ago, Kelly was challenged to rebuild a program left with only 43 scholarship players. For context, FBS teams typically feature 85 scholarship players on their roster. Moreover, LSU Football recruiting was fractured, including many of the best in-state recruits leaving Louisiana to play college football.

Indeed, Ed Orgeron’s aura circa the 2019 national championship-winning season had diminished.
Orgeron ruffled many feathers off the field, but his failures to lead a competent team without elite assistants made him toxic and not worth the hassle.

LSU paid O $17.1 million to go away. That’s how bad things were in Baton Rouge.

Thus far, Kelly has done everything right since assuming responsibilities in Death Valley. He worked overtime to secure the 12th overall recruiting class in 2022 and massaged the transfer portal to fill the scholarship athlete gaps.

If Kelly is guilty of anything, he overachieved with LSU Football in 2022. Winning ten games, including a win over Alabama, inflated our expectations for the Tigers in 2023. Indeed, we continue to expect too much from the Bayou Bengals.

Kelly told us LSU Football isn’t ready to compete yet

Something that has remained in the back of my mind is Brian Kelly’s June 2023 comments regarding his team’s ability to compete for a national title.

"“We need another year of recruiting-one more really good year on both sides of the ball, I think, put us in a position where, I think, year three, the consistency piece, the depth of our program, the messaging, all the things we do on a day-to-day basis, puts us in a position to compete for a championship.”"

Kelly’s admission was part of his interview with SEC columnist Blake Toppmeyer. I thought such was a means to calm the preseason expectations that surrounded Baton Rogue. However, after five games, it is apparent that the LSU head coach was being brutally honest.

Ultimately, LSU needs another season to recruit and coach up the players recruited in Kelly’s 2022 and 2023 classes.

We will not know just how good LSU Football can be under Kelly until he has two or three full seasons under his belt, and many of his players are filling the depth chart.

For now, Tigers’ fans must take the 2023 results with a grain of salt, case of beer, or bottle of bourbon. LSU is not currently the CFP team we thought they were, but they’re not supposed to be.

It’s too soon

We must have faith in Kelly’s plan for the Tigers and trust that he will build a sustainable winner in Baton Rouge that is unlike anything Les Miles and Orgeron put together.

I know that Kelly could not clear the hurdle while at Notre Dame, but I’m sure we’ll agree that the LSU Football talent level is superior to that in South Bend. Thus, we must trust that Kelly’s program-building prowess and LSU’s talent and resources will combine for something special.

It just wasn’t going to happen as soon as it did for Kim Mulkey with LSU Basketball or Jay Johnson with LSU Baseball.