For Brian Kelly, the hard work is just beginning.

Everyone knew that the new LSU coach had a lot of work to do in a multi-year rebuilding project in order to make the Tigers SEC West contenders and nationally relevant again.

But 1 game into that process we now know just how much work he has to do just to fix everything that went wrong in the bizarre 24-23 loss to Florida State in the season opener on Sunday night in the Caesars Superdome.

It’s Tell the Truth Monday, and the truth is LSU messed up a lot of stuff in all 3 phases against the Seminoles.

It was a team effort.

The offensive line didn’t back up Kelly’s public pronouncements about its improvement from the spring to the late summer. The FSU defensive line was more active in the Tigers’ backfield than the LSU running backs were.

The Tigers’ defense made a bunch of good plays but virtually all of them came on first and second down as the Seminoles turned 11 of their first 15 third downs into first downs.

When it was time for the defense to get off the field, FSU quarterback Jordan Travis made it stick around a while longer.

LSU gave up 2 touchdown passes –- 1 from 39 yards and the other from 27 –- and both were completed even though the Tigers committed pass-interference penalties on the play.

And then there were the special teams.

Malik Nabers muffed 2 punts near LSU’s goal line and FSU recovered both. Miraculously, neither resulted in points for the Seminoles after a turnover on downs and a lost fumble, though what the miscues cost the Tigers in terms of field position and time was not insignificant.

Kelly said he’ll have to consider replacing Nabers.

Sticking with the special-teams miscues, the Tigers’ Damian Ramos had two kicks blocked –- a 30-yard field-goal attempt in the second quarter and, of course, the point-after attempt that would have forced overtime after time in regulation had expired.

Kelly was quicker to make a personnel change on the left side of the line after the first block, but it didn’t prevent the second block from coming from the same side.

The hard truth of the matter is that few things are more basic than catching punts cleanly and blocking well enough to make extra points and chip-shot field goals –- or at least getting the football to clear the line of scrimmage.

When you fail in both of those fundamental areas multiple times in the same game it’s remarkable that you didn’t lose the game much earlier than you did.

Here’s some more truth.

A thin defense is going to be hurt significantly if one of its best players –- tackle Masson Smith –- is injured significantly.

Smith, a sophomore and former 5-star recruit whom the Tigers believe is poised for stardom, was injured on the first defensive series and didn’t return to the sideline until the start of the third quarter, sporting a knee brace and walking with crutches.

Kelly said he’s scheduled to have an MRI on Monday.

So the offensive, defensive and special-teams staffs and players all have their hands full during this short week.

But the real truth is that Tell the Truth Monday is about the bad stuff that happens in wins and the good stuff that happens in losses.

In Sunday night’s loss, quarterback Jayden Daniels was good –- very good, in fact.

He was under constant pressure and had little chance to find his talented group of receivers because he was too busy identifying and trying to elude the pressure.

But he kept his poise, he made good decisions, and he made important plays with his arm and his legs.

“When he did sit in the pocket,” Kelly said of Daniels, “he showed great patience and was able to make good decisions.”

He kept LSU in the game for 60 minutes when the Tigers looked like they were out of it in the third quarter because he had so little help.

But the Tigers scored 13 points in the final 4:07 after managing just 10 points in the prior 55:53.

“I was proud of the resolve we showed,” Kelly said.

And that’s not insignificant.