How LSU begins setting its offensive foundation this spring

LSU’s spring season is underway with the offensive side of the ball hoping to be significantly further along than its been in years past at this point. With Joe Sloan and Cortez Hankton promoted to co-offensive coordinators, LSU head coach Brian Kelly envisions sustained success on the offensive side of the ball after having the best offense in the nation in 2023.

The challenge comes in turnover at the top. With Quarterback Jayden Daniels, and wide receivers Brian Thomas and Malik Nabers all locks to be first round draft picks, the voids to fill are substantial.

Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier leads the renaissance in replacing the production lost, but it’s going to take a team-oriented approach to rebuild and refine the offense for LSU in 2024.

“Each year you’re always going to build it around players, not plays,” Kelly said. “Each year is going to have a little bit of a change. This is still going to be about finding the best playmakers and getting them the ball like it was last year. Garrett is a different quarterback than Jayden so we’ll look to do things that highlight him. The nuances within the offense in terms of attacking, pushing the ball down the field, having balance between the run and the pass, that’s not going to change. But the players involved, we have to be able to highlight what they’re good at and what their strengths are. That’s where you’ll see some changes.”

LSU’s receiving corps is the biggest unknown on the offense this year, but the talent is evident. Taking the transfer additions of Zavion Thomas and CJ Daniels has helped supplement the departures, but now there will be more pressure on the run game in 2024.

In 2023, the running backs accounted for 1,515 yards as a group, with Logan Diggs leading the way at 653 yards on 119 carries. Jayden Daniels alone had 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns on 135 carries. That’s a lot of production to replace on the ground.

How will the Tigers look to expand the run game this year? That’s what spring is for. One aspect that has been overlooked is the new importance of the offensive line in creating better opportunities to break first down carries. After last year’s simplified run game, there’s a heightened importance on finding new ways to free up ball carriers.

“Certainly you’re looking to make up for those yards that you’ve lost with Jayden Daniels and you can do it a number of different ways,” Kelly said. “You can do it with perimeter throws whereas Jayden gave us perimeter runs. You can do it not simply with the running backs but how do you use your offensive line? We think we’ve got one of the best offensive lines in the country and they’re athletic as well. We think our tackles can move and pull. I think a run game that now becomes a lot more diversified in the sense we can start moving our offensive linemen to create an offensive running game that strikes on a much wider front. The running backs will play a part in this but I think the focus needs to be much more on how the offensive line will play a much larger role to enhance our running game.”

Joe Sloan will be the primary play caller, while Brian Kelly and Cortez Hankton run the on-field operations during games. Kelly has been sure to emphasize the fact the entire room will have a hand in calling plays after two years where Mike Denbrock held the keys.

Sloan and Hankton not only have the responsibility of developing their position groups at LSU, but now have to build an entirely new identity for an offense that has a lot of talented pieces, but no defined persona. The offensive line is arguably the biggest strength, but how will the staff build around all of the new skill position pieces?

There’s built up trust from Kelly entering the year in his staff, but everything sounds good during spring ball. Now, he eyes this offseason as pivotal to make sure everything runs smoothly heading into the fall.

“He’s been on a job interview for a couple of years, I’ve gotten a chance to work with him, I’ve been in the quarterback meeting room. That’s where I sit when I get a chance to be involved,” Kelly said. “So I’ve been around him, I know what that position requires to be the offensive coordinator and I just felt like he had the leadership capabilities, the intellect, the understanding of what I was looking for in terms of our offensive identity and philosophy and felt like it was his time. I just felt like the pieces with all of them in totality made this the right choice at the right time.”