As LSU football turns its attention to their first BYE week of the 2024 college football season, coach Brian Kelly took some time to outline his plans not only for the coming week but also his expectations for their second BYE week in early November.
LSU coach Brian Kelly revealed that recovery week has not arrived just yet for his roster
Starting out the 2024 college football season with a 4-1 record, LSU coach Brian Kelly and his roster have officially reached BYE week number one.
While many typically associate BYE weeks with an opportunity to get some extra rest as they prepare for the remainder of the season, the Tiger head coach recently revealed that he has a slightly different plan for how the next seven days will go for his roster.
âWell, we treat it a little bit different because we have two,â coach Brian Kelly began while speaking on The Paul Finebaum Show. âWeâre gonna continue to practice â continue to develop our team. This is a young team. We had six freshmen on the defensive side of the ball. As you saw, Caden Durham had a great game for us â heâs a true freshman. Weâve got a couple of freshmen on the offensive side of the ball that need to continue to develop.â
âWeâll practice this week, and then weâve got a big recruiting weekend. A lot of visits coming this weekend, so a combination with keep developing our football team, and then the second BYE week, weâll use as much more of a recovery week.â
Improvement is goal number one for BYE week number one
Ahead of the 2024 season, it was largely expected that the Tigers would roll out a starting lineup full of veteran leaders, many of which could end up making their way to the NFL come this offseason.
However, while thereâs certainly been no shortage of upperclassmen on the field, this has also turned out to be one of the youngest teams weâve seen under the now third year head coach.
In 2022, the purple and gold rolled out several immediate impact freshmen such as linebacker Harold Perkins Jr, tight end Mason Taylor, and offensive tackles Will Campbell and Emery Jones Jr. While those players are notably still on the roster and leaving their mark on the field â outside of Perkins Jr, whoâs out for the season with a knee injury â weâve still seen a surprising amount of youth, and itâs not entirely out of necessity.
Freshman running back Caden Durham, for instance, most recently put together a performance that included 217 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns while only touching the ball 10 total times.
Then, if we take a look at the defensive side of the ball, safety Dashawn Spears and defensive tackle Ahmad Breaux have each solidified their role as consistent playmakers, and can likely be expected to hold those roles for years to come.
While itâs hard to imagine the LSU football coaching staff will push their roster too much this week, itâs not exactly difficult to understand why theyâd want to utilize it for development first and foremost. This is a young team, and the scariest part about them is that they only seem to be getting better as the season goes on, even despite injuries plaguing them in the early portions of 2024.
Itâs yet to be seen if that improvement can continue for the program, but with over 30 years of experience in the sport of college football, itâs hard not to trust Brian Kelly and his coaching methods.
LSU football will return to the field in a bit over a week on Saturday, October 12, 2024 against the Rebels of Ole Miss. The game is set to take place at 6:30 p.m. CST in Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, LA, and will be available to watch live on ABC.
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