National Championship in Year 4. That’s what former LSU HC Ed Orgeron thought should be Brian Kelly’s goal. In fact, he’s disappointed that it didn’t happen in Year 3 itself. The Tigers, under Kelly, went through some major changes. Better recruiting solved its 2023 woes, and Kelly brought in a slew of new staffers for the defense. But something seems to be amiss in the recipe for Brian Kelly. There aren’t a lot of gaps in LSU’s 2025 roster. Why is Brian Kelly still not receiving the full support from the community?

The Tigers’ HC has 2 NCAA Division II National Championships in the bag. Even in Div I, Kelly has seen growth. He went from one big program to another and did a great job as an HC. At Notre Dame, Kelly registered a 92-39 record, where he was able to publish double-digit scores in 6 seasons. He has 3 conference championship titles to himself, each from a different one. And yet, there are doubts about his 2025 hopes.

ESPN’s Aaron Murray shared his thoughts on this with J.D. PicKell in a May 25 video of On3. “We should feel good about our roster. We should feel good about our quarterback. And I think right now, it’s just a belief in, you know, ‘Do we truly believe Brian Kelly is a good enough coach to get us into the playoffs?’” Murray theorized. The HC is both the answer and not the answer when it comes to this scenario. LSU wouldn’t be where it is today if Brian Kelly hadn’t taken the job. But is he also the person because of whom LSU is not advancing further into the season?

The last time LSU secured a playoff spot was in 2019. And back then, it was even more difficult to get there, with just 4 spaces open. Has Kelly not learned from his mistakes? Of course, he has. He got Blake Baker to rebuild the defense in 2024. He produced a Heisman-winning quarterback in Jayden Daniels, and he stands to do the exact same with Garrett Nussmeier in play. But still, the picture is still unclear about whether Brian Kelly finally bridges the gap needed for a playoff berth this season.

Garrett Nussmeier is not giving us much to worry about. He’s already expected to go as top pick in the NFL next year. More importantly, the QB has been relentless in studying his mistakes from the past. As Murray said, LSU has a star quarterback in Nussmeier. But things can be more certain for the Tigers only if he keeps his ‘gunslinging’ plays on a leash.

However uncertain the picture might look for Brian Kelly as LSU’s HC, fans can heave a sigh of relief with these positive injury updates from the offseason camp.

Brian Kelly’s defensive stars are coming back from injury

Even with a new defense, Kelly saw some problems. But perhaps the fall of people like Whit Weeks seemed to be the reason that the ship tanked. Now, Weeks—LSU’s elite QB with 125 total tackles from last year—will soon join the practice, Blake Bake revealed. “[Whit Weeks] doing really well. I mean, he talked about yesterday, he was at full speed doing football drills. And more than anything, it’s just the fatigue standpoint — as far as the next day, you know, getting over that soreness just from using all those muscles and ligaments again.”  Baker said. “He’s dang near 100%.”

Another good news is the return of Harold Perkins. The star prospect will come back after playing for a very limited time in the last. He will be playing from the STAR position –  a place where he was set. Another update Baker revealed was about Weeks’ younger brother, Wes. “I sat him down and viewed him as a starter. And he was honestly competing with Greg Penn for that starting role. Unfortunately, he did get banged up — but it ended up working out in our favor, as far as being able to redshirt him and having him back. But he had an outstanding spring,” the HC added.

LSU has everything looking good, except the HC. And it’s not just failing to win the championship that is Kelly’s No. 1 crime. Failure is when you keep the team in a stagnant position, despite such great weapons on hand.