Brian Kelly explains why Myles Brennan made decision to return to LSU

For all the struggles he has gone through at LSU, quarterback Myles Brennan is back for his sixth season in Baton Rouge. However, there was a time when he considered moving on.

After injuries kept him sidelined the majority of the past two seasons, Brennan entered the NCAA transfer portal this past November. It seemed to him that his opportunity with the Tigers might never come, with players who arrived well after him threatening to take his spot should he return. But after speaking with first-year head coach Brian Kelly, Myles Brennan decided to give LSU one final chance.

The quarterback officially announced his return for the 2022 season on Dec. 16.

“I think that was part of the reason he shared with me that he decided to come back,” Kelly said in a recent press conference after spring practice. “He wanted to be in a system where the head coach was involved with the quarterbacks. Part of the system is certainly quarterback-friendly. The head coach is involved in it and I think that had a lot to do with it. He’s a Tiger, you know. He loves LSU. You can see he’s in so much better shape physically and mentally he’s in a good spot. He’s a veteran and that is such a great commodity to have in college football today.”

After waiting three long years to start at quarterback, playing behind Danny Etling and later Heisman winner Joe Burrow, Brennan finally got a small taste in 2020. With the Tigers coming off of an undefeated season and national championship, Brennan finally got his chance to start following the departure of Burrow to the NFL. Unfortunately, he suffered a season-ending abdominal injury in Week 3 of that season, which would be only the beginning of his injury issues.

Brennan battled all the way back from that setback only to be dealt another blow. He broke his arm in the offseason and once again sat out the entire season in 2021. The quarterback watched as Max Johnson took over the starting job and led LSU to a 6-7 finish, resulting in the firing of coach Ed Orgeron just two years after he led the team to a national title. Johnson transferred to Texas A&M in the offseason, once again opening the door for Brennan to be the starter in 2022.

LSU also brought in Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels, who has three seasons of starting experience with the Sun Devils. He finished this past season with 2,381 yards passing in addition to 710 yards rushing while helping ASU to an 8-5 finish. At this point it seems Daniels is primed to assume the starting role, but don’t count Brennan or freshman Garrett Nussmeier out just yet.

The Tigers are set to host their annual spring game on April 23, where fans can get a closer look at all three players.