10 New Year's resolutions for LSU football in 2024
LSU had a good season in 2023.
But it didn’t have a great season.
In fact it’s fair to say the Tigers fell short of expectations even though Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy, even though they had the most prolific offense in the country and even though they put themselves in position for a 2nd consecutive 10-win season.
After all they were No. 5 in the AP preseason poll, but started the season with a loss, fell behind in the SEC race after losing their 3rd conference game and became irrelevant to any conference or national title conversations with 3 games left in the regular season.
A good season, but not great.
Brian Kelly was brought to Baton Rouge to restore greatness to the program. He’s not there after 2 seasons, but at 19-7, he’s not that far off either.
If greatness is going to return to the LSU program in 2024 here are 10 New Year’s resolutions the Tigers need to keep.
1. Set the tone in the ReliaQuest Bowl
The 1st day of 2024 brings an opportunity to set a positive tone for the year.
With Daniels focused on the NFL Draft and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock having left to take a similar position at Notre Dame, it’s questionable whether the bowl Tigers will look much like the regular-season Tigers that were ranked No. 13.
But Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. stuck around and Mekhi Wingo plans to come back from midseason abdominal surgery to play against Wisconsin on Monday in Tampa.
After the Tigers lost to Alabama on Nov. 4 and got eliminated from the SEC West race, Kelly emphasized the value in completing a 2nd consecutive 10-win season. The players responded with 3 consecutive wins in which they averaged 50 points.
Another stellar performance to produce that 10-win season could strengthen the foundation going forward.
2. Find another Mike Denbrock
OK, that won’t be easy. And whoever succeeds Denbrock will need to be himself and not try to be Denbrock 2.0.
But Kelly made an outstanding hire when he lured Denbrock from Cincinnati, and it’s important that he replace Denbrock with a coordinator of similar quality.
3. Remain ‘Passing Game U’
The new coordinator needs to maintain or even build on the recent success of the passing game.
LSU again led the SEC with 41 TD passes — 16 more than runner-up Georgia, which already has played 1 more game.
Daniels passed for 3,812 yards and 40 TDs — and added another 1,134 yards rushing with 10 more TDs. He became the 2nd LSU quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy in the past 5 years (joining Joe Burrow), and Nabers and Thomas continued the success of recent receivers such as Ja’Marr Chase.
Suddenly LSU is one of the best destinations for passers and catchers in a game largely defined by passers and catchers these days.
Kyren Lacy is returning for next season because he wants to follow in the footsteps on Chase and Nabers and Thomas. Other talented receivers are waiting in the wings and coming on board.
4. Get back to playing LSU defense
This relatively newfound passing success is important, but the Tigers won’t be great again until they complement it by playing defense the way the best LSU teams generally have.
Finishing 12th the SEC in points allowed (27.8) won’t cut it.
Kelly has said he’ll evaluate his staff going forward, but whether Matt House stays at coordinator or the head coach shakes things up, the 2024 coordinator and the defensive staff have to have more talent to work with.
5. Fix the secondary
The secondary reflects the defense’s shortcomings more than the other 2 levels of the defense, though the entire unit can use an upgrade.
The Tigers brought in a bunch of new DBs from a variety of sources for 2023, but it didn’t work out.
LSU allowed 20 TD passes and only intercepted 10 passes.
Much work needs to be done there for 2024.
6. Rebuild the depth
Ed Orgeron left Kelly a pretty thin roster to begin with.
The new regime has done a good job of replenishing the roster, but the depth remains a work in progress as demonstrated by the fall-off when key players have been injured. (The bowl game might expose some of those issues as Daniels and other key starters have opted out.)
The portal and the high schools will both have to contribute to the continued development of quality depth.
7. Less portal, more high school
Kelly and his staff have had highly regarded high-school classes and have supplemented them with college veterans through the transfer portal.
The results have been mixed — even though the Tigers still ranked No. 7 in 247Sports’ talent composite ranking.
The Tigers will still need to plug some holes by taking advantage of the portal, but sustained success will require a foundation built primarily with high-school recruits. Kelly’s incoming class ranked No. 11 in the country and didn’t include a 5-star.
8. Improve in player development
The Tigers have had too many examples of highly-regarded prospects failing to play up to expectations and others starting well and then hitting a plateau prematurely.
Kelly and has staff need to do a better job of getting continual improvement out of players over the course of their careers at LSU – no matter how long or short their stay might be.
9. Open the season better
The Tigers have played uphill each of the past 2 seasons after losing their season openers against Florida State.
They won’t ease their way into next season either as they open against USC in Las Vegas. (Even though Lincoln Riley’s Trojans likely will be starting over at QB if Caleb Williams leaves for the NFL.) But if Kelly’s third team is going to finish better than his first 2, it will need to start better than those 2 – especially with UCLA, Ole Miss, Alabama and Oklahoma, among others, waiting down the road.
10. Exceed 10 wins
If LSU beats Wisconsin on Monday, it will have the back-to-back 10-win seasons that Kelly touted.
That would be nice – as would a 3rd straight 10-win season.
But if Kelly is going to restore greatness to the program, 2024 would be a good time to win 11 – or more – games.