It’s Year 4 in Baton Rouge, and Brian Kelly’s playoff resume is still collecting dust. No natty. No CFP bid. Not even a whiff of a serious title push. LSU fans aren’t just restless—they’re straight-up side-eyeing their head coach, wondering if this whole thing is about to be a very expensive letdown.
And now? ESPN’s analyst just put even more heat on Kelly’s seat, and the Garrett Nussmeier situation isn’t making things any easier.
On March 2nd, Matt Moscona hopped on his ‘After Further Review: LSU’ podcast and brought in ESPN analyst Bill Connelly to dissect the Tigers’ standing in the initial S.P. rankings. Connelly didn’t sugarcoat it: LSU is solid, but they aren’t quite clicking. “There’s nothing that’s really dragging them down a ton… The defense a couple of years ago wasn’t great, got better in 2024, just as the offense was still solid but fell off a little bit.”
LSU’s defense in 2023 was straight-up rough, ranked 108th in the nation while giving up over 416 yards a game. Opponents were moving the ball like it was a walk in the park. But in 2024, they tightened up a bit, climbing to 59th and holding teams to about 364 yards per game. Still not elite, but they’re way better than the mess they had before. But, hear me out!
That’s the problem in a nutshell. One side of the ball improves, and the other regresses. One step forward, one step back. LSU has been treading water instead of swimming full speed toward a championship.
Then Bill Connelly went on: “If this was based solely on returning production, they’d be about 14th. But if it was based solely on that recruiting piece that I said was transfer-heavy, they’d be projected third.”
LSU didn’t just dip into the transfer portal; they went full-blown shopping spree mode. Virginia Tech’s Mansoor Delane (CB), Florida State’s Patrick Peyton (EDGE), and NC State’s safety, Tamarcus Cooley, are bringing that extra juice to the secondary. They also bought some key pieces in offense, like Nic Anderson from Sooners and Barion Brown from Kentucky. If we go purely based on the transfer portal, the LSU Tigers would comfortably sit 3rd in the S.P. ranking for winning the natty.
Bill Connelly finally laid it out flatly: “You combine that with one of the, you know, not—I wouldn’t call him a Heisman favorite or anything—but he’s still one of the better returning quarterbacks in the country. And he’s always going to have receivers at LSU. So, that feels like quite a bit to offer there.”
Look, Garrett Nussmeier is on pretty top of Heisman in 2025. Coming off a strong 2024 season where he slung it for over 4,000 yards and 29 touchdowns, folks are startin’ to take notice. BetMGM’s got his odds at +850, putting him right behind Arch Manning, who’s sittin’ at +700 as the favorite.
Bill Connelly gave Nussmeier his flowers as one of the best returning in the SEC, but he ain’t riding with hashtag Garrett Nussmeier for the Heisman 2025 banner.
Matt Moscona smokes Brian Kelly ahead of do-or-die 2025 season
On March 1st, Matt Moscona didn’t just sound the alarm—he set the whole building on fire. “If LSU wins nine games, goes nine and three, and misses the postseason, Brian Kelly will not make the playoffs during his time at LSU because he will not have a better roster at LSU than he’ll have this year,” Moscona said.
And he wasn’t just talking to talk. “With Nussmeier coming back as a fifth-year senior, with all the money they just pumped in via the transfer portal to build this roster into a contender—if you can’t get this roster, I don’t care against what schedule, if you can’t get this roster to 10 wins and get in the playoffs, I don’t see a path for it to happen.”
That’s about as real as it gets. If Brian Kelly doesn’t get LSU into the playoffs now, it might never happen under his watch. Why? Because after 2025, this roster is getting gutted. Garrett Nussmeier? Gone. The top transfers? Most of them, outta here. And then you’re left scrambling for replacements in an SEC world that doesn’t believe in rebuilding years.
Brian Kelly has been playing the long game, stacking talent, and waiting for the right moment to strike for 3 years now! And yes, no more ‘almost’ seasons. No more ‘just missed it’ years. Leave Garrett Nussmeier’s Heisman run for a minute.
If Garrett Nussmeier and Brian Kelly don’t show up big time for Baton Rouge, one will enter the league as undrafted free-agency or practice squad, and another would be jobless for some time. LSU fans are done with patience. They need results.
The post Brian Kelly on High Alert as ESPN Analyst’s Garrett Nussmeier’s Take Adds to LSU HC’s CFP Woes appeared first on EssentiallySports.