LSU’s spring practice got underway today and it only begins the process of getting prepared for the 2023 season. The Tigers will be looking to carry their momentum from the 2022 season. A season where LSU surprised many by becoming the SEC West Champions and reaching the 10-win mark with a victory over Purdue in the Citrus Bowl.
Brian Kelly spoke to the media today as the Tigers opened up their spring game that will lead to the annual spring game that will be held on April 22nd in Tiger Stadium. Kelly opened with what the first day of spring practice means and how it can help a team develop:
LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly Introduction:
“Well, today was the first day of spring practice for us and as I reminded our players it’s really of progression of what we do every day. That is the progression of what we do every day is building on the things that go to being successful and so there’s no scoreboard out in spring practice.
You know there’s no winners, there’s no losers. What it’s really about is the total development of the individual and them understanding that you need more than just talent alone to win a national championship.”
Brian Kelly on The Format of the Spring Game:
“Yeah, I don’t think you’re going to throw exotics in there and, and do those kinds of things, but you still, if, if, look, if you can play the game, you want to do what I just said, right? You want to continue that competition, you still want to be able to put those kids in a position where they can work on all of those things. Last year was a little bit different, as you know, I try to treat it as a game where we did pre-game meal and we did the walk and we did all those things because they had never been involved nor had I. So I wanted to take that anxiety out of the first game for us”
On Losing Walker Howard, How Important is Garrett Nussmeier:
“Yeah, I mean, look, I mean, you’re ready for everything. You know, you want to do a great job of retention and, and sometimes it’s out of your hands, you know? And you know, Garrett is, is was out there today, even after he’s had some corrective surgery, he was out there competing, throwing the football. And, he’ll probably be another week or so before he’s full going everything. But yeah, I, I think he’s, he’s excited and you know, I, I think (Rickie) Collins, you know, got a lot of work today.’
Potential on SEC Going To Three Permanent Opponents:
“Yeah, we play all three of those teams, so for me, it, it just didn’t seem to be any different. You know, I expected that it was probably going to be Ole Miss in Alabama and whether it was gonna be A&M or Texas or somebody else, you know, it, it just, it’s not something that I really thought much about because I wanted to play SEC teams. That’s why I came here. So I just think I come from it from a different perspective in that I respect all the opponents we play and I think it’s important that, you know, we play certain teams, but if we could play all SEC schools and that was the smart thing.”
Update on Running Back Injuries:
“Yeah, they’re working through the injuries that they suffered. You know, they’re out there at practice. They’ve been great in terms of their rehab and you know, certainly Josh is the closest in terms of being able to come back and you know, do some more drill work in the spring. Armani will not be back until camp. And, you know, certainly Trey Holley’s going to get a lot of work and he did today, matter of fact, he grabbed me in the hallway and, you know, and, and typically as a freshman you can imagine there were some, some errors and he was, he was looking for Coach Wilson and wanting to apologize.”
