3/11/2024 football Edit

Brian Kelly talks about LSU's offense with Garrett Nussmeier, Joe Sloan

Luke Hubbard • Death Valley Insider

Analyst

We all know about the historic offense that the LSU Tigers fielded in 2023. Led by the Heisman Trophy winner, Jayden Daniels, the Tigers were nearly impossible to stop on offense. However, not only did LSU lose Jayden Daniels, but they lost their two leading receivers in Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr., their leading running back in Logan Diggs, and their offensive coordinator in Mike Denbrock.

I don't care who you are or who you have to replace them, that's a tall task for anybody.

We got the chance to talk to Brian Kelly for the first time this spring after the Tigers second day of spring camp, and one of the first questions he was asked was about the offense and how it's going to look this year with Garrett Nussmeier and Joe Sloan leading the charge. He said their focus will continue to be finding the best playmakers and finding the best way to get them to ball.

"Each year, you're always going to build [the offense] around players, not plays. Each year is going to have a little bit of a change. This is still going to be about finding the best playmakers and getting them the ball like it was last year. Garrett [Nussmeier] is a different quarterback than Jayden [Daniels], so we'll look to do things that highlight him."

— Brian Kelly

One of the biggest moves of the offseason for the Tigers was the promotion of Joe Sloan and Cortez Hankton to co-offensive coordinator. Though they share the same title, it is expected that Sloan will be the play caller.

Kelly was asked about what went into the decision to promote Sloan to play caller, and he said it came down to familiarity, his understanding of what Kelly wants in an offense and his leadership.

"[Joe Sloan] has been in a job interview for years, I've gotten the chance to work with him a lot. I've been in the quarterback meeting room, that's where I sit when I get a chance to be involved. I get pulled out quite a bit, this pesky day job keeps me doing other things. You'd love to be able to coach a position, but you just can't with other responsibilities that you have. To answer your question, I've been around him, and I know what that position requires to be the offensive coordinator. I just felt that he had the leadership capabilities, the intellect, the understanding of what I was looking for in terms of our offensive identity and philosophy. It felt like it was his time."

— Brian Kelly

With a new quarterback and offensive coordinator, you might expect to see some changes in philosophy, but for the most part, we can expect this year's offense to look somewhat similar to last year's.

Obviously, there will be less quarterback runs and more rushes from the actual running backs, but they still expect to attack their opponents similarly to last season; with down field shots and a well balanced passing and rushing attack. What is going to change is who's making the plays, and they're going to find ways to utilize their players strengths while sticking to their offensive philosophy.

"The nuances within the offense in terms of attacking, pushing the ball down field, having a balance between the run and the pass. That's not going to change, but the players involved, we have to be able to highlight what they're good at and what their strengths are, and that's where you'll see some changes."

— Brian Kelly

There is still a long way to go until the start of the season, but it seems Kelly, Sloan and Nussmeier are all on the same page about what the offense is going to look like in 2024.

They've got the players and coaches to have a lethal offense, they just need to put it together on the field before their trip to Vegas.