LSU Football had their first day of fall camp on Wednesday. Following the practice Head Coach Brian Kelly spoke to the media.
Kelly opted for a shorter practice so that the team could slowly acclimatize to the harsh Louisiana heat. The first seven days of practice are when athletes are most prone to suffer soft tissue injuries.
“We want to make sure that we get through these seven days acclimatized without any soft tissue injuries,” Kelly said.
This may have been the team’s first official practice together, but Kelly emphasized that they have been putting in work for the past seven months.
“If we were putting this team together for the first time today, I’d be nervous, but we’ve been doing this for seven months with this group. Seven months of observation, seven months of leadership development,” Kelly said.
A large majority of the team are fresh faces, whether they are young commits or from the transfer portal. Many of these players, like Nic Anderson or Bauer Sharp, have a good chance of getting some playing time.
Of course, the defense will be anchored by Whit Weeks and Harold Perkins Jr., who were both able to practice after recovering from injuries. Both juniors will be huge assets for the Fighting Tigers defense.
“You see them, you feel them, you hear them…,’ Kelly said, ‘the temperature is a little different when those two are in the room.”
Under Blake Baker’s second year as Defense Coordinator, coach Kelly believes that the defensive staff is coming into year two comfortably. He said the coaching staff does not have to prove themselves anymore, and they can just be themselves.
“Getting him some tools to where he can be Blake Baker and call the defense how he wants to,” Kelly said.
Both the defensive and offensive are stacked. The wide receiver room arguably has the most talent. Kelly said this is the most depth he has ever had in that position.
Oklahoma transfer and redshirt-junior wide receiver Nic Anderson did not get any contact at practice on Wednesday because he was recently involved in a fender bender. Kelly did say he passed the concussion protocol and should be good for 11v11 on Thursday.
