…It is clear that a 10-2 LSU team likely makes it into the top 12 in most of those seasons.

According to this trend and of course not having any new data from what records will be once conference realignment bears its results, LSU is in great shape. If the ball bounces a particular way, even a 9-3 team could sneak in some years, and 9-3 is considered mediocre by many among the fanbase. Given these statistics, along with two 10-win seasons under Kelly, confidence should be high among Tiger fans that meaningful football will be played in late December of this calendar year. And with the talent and staff Kelly is accumulating, which will be the focus of Part II of this article, it is not out of the question that LSU may not miss the playoffs again for a very long time.

Read the rest of Part I.

LSU’s top-ranked offense was, to put it gently, hardly complemented by a defense that could aid in making a run at a championship. The offense, for the second time in five years, led the nation in both scoring (45.5) and yards per game (543.5). The unit also now ranks third in SEC history, joining the 2019 team and 2012 Texas A&M.

From LSUSports.net:

LSU topped the 40-point mark nine times in 2023 and the Tigers had nine games when they reached 500 yards of offense with a season-high of 701 yards in the win over Florida.

Individually, Heisman Trophy quarterback Jayden Daniels paced the nation in several categories including total offense (412.2), pass efficiency (208.0), points responsible for per game (25.2), yards per rush (8.4), and rushing yards by a quarterback (1,134).

Daniels’ pass efficiency rating of 208.0 is the highest in FBS history, bettering the previous mark of 207.6 set by Grayson McCall of Coastal Carolina in 2021.

Daniels’ 412.2 total yards per game broke Joe Burrow’s school record of 402.6 set in during his Heisman Trophy season in 2019. Daniels capped his career as the only player in FBS history to pass for 12,000 yards and rush for 3,000 yards. In his 53-game career, Daniels accumulated 12,749 passing yards and 3,307 rushing yards.

Daniels also ranked No. 2 nationally in passing TDs (40), No. 3 in passing yards per game (317.7), No. 4 in passing yards per completion (16.15), and No. 5 in total passing yards (3,812).

LSU’s top two receivers – Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas – both led the nation in receiving categories. Thomas led the nation in receiving TDs with 17, while Nabers was No. 1 in receiving yards per game (120.7) and No. 2 in receiving yards (1,569).

Nabers, a consensus all-American, became LSU’s all-time leader in receptions (189) and receiving yards (3,003).

You probably have seen most of those numbers already, but I highlight them not for the numbers themselves, but for the players behind them and the point I want to make about Coach Kelly today.

Daniels, Nabers, and Thomas, Jr provide a snapshot of everything that can be productive for a program in this new age of what amounts to, basically, free agency in “collegiate” sports. Personally, I don’t love the transfer portal as it is, although I do think in a more limited way it could be fair for the student-athlete (for instance, a one-time transfer exception if a head coach moves to another school). So I say “productive” from a purely impact standpoint on the field. Daniels made his way to Baton Rouge via the transfer portal from Arizona State and ended up winning the Heisman and earning a likely top-10 pick standing in the upcoming NFL draft. His two receiver targets, on the other hand, were Louisiana-grown targets Kelly and the staff developed into All-Americans and future pros.

It is the latter way that Coach Kelly has said he wants to stick to moving forward, despite Daniels’ wild success story.

“You can see the shift in transition towards developing our players and allowing them to grow within our program,” Kelly said. “We had some young players who had to play this year, and there’s some growing pains that come along with that. But I’m committed to that growth and that kind of development. I think in the long run that proves to be the way to championships, continuity and consistencies in your program.”

One of the most impressive things Kelly has done in his two years at LSU is adjust to the current landscape of college football, no matter how much it may have been a thorn in his side. The elder Kelly has always made it clear that he doesn’t believe the transfer portal is sustainable, but in inheriting a team that went to the 2022 Texas Bowl with just 39 scholarship players, the then-60 year old knew he would have to adjust his philosophy a bit in order to stabilize the program. And he knew that in order to stabilize it, it had to achieve some early successes.

That approach, in turn, has allowed this whole thing to come full circle. As a result of the successes brought on by transfers like Daniels, LSU is again an attractive landing place for high school recruits.

Particularly those from Louisiana.

Kelly made it no secret when he took the job that he intended to make recruiting Louisiana players the priority, a strategic position his predecessor didn’t share as earnestly. Not only is this refreshing considering Nick Saban employed the same philosophy to stockpile LSU’s roster that won the 2003 and 2007 national titles and was top-6 in the final 2005 and 2006 polls, but also from a fundamental standpoint involving young players and where their hearts are.

Since players are now allowed to come and go as they please, practically speaking, it is a much wiser investment to recruit home-grown talent as opposed to star-studded pre-madonnas from all over the country. There is no organic investment in LSU from a kid in California, so it makes it easier for a player like that to cut ties with LSU early and go play somewhere else. This is not to say that it can’t and hasn’t happened with Louisiana kids, but the indisputable fact is that LSU football reigns supreme in this state, and even if a recruit gets starry eyed and considers playing elsewhere, the pull toward staying home where parents and siblings and girlfriends can travel easily to watch your games should, when combined with LSU’s growing success, prove to be a more compelling reason in your decision.

On top of that, the desire to go play elsewhere after a year or two at LSU is less because you are already home. You are not a California kid not getting any playing time and instinctively looking to take your talents elsewhere just as you did  originally when you signed out of high school.

“I believe that there is a loyalty and a sense of growing up in wanting to play for LSU,” Kelly said. “It’s clearly here in the state of Louisiana that young boys grow up to young men that want to play for LSU. I really believe that there’s that passion.”

LSU has signed eight of the top ten players from Louisiana and owns a hard commit from a ninth in Texas A&M decommit Dominick McKinley, a five-star recruit at one of the Tigers’ absolute positions of need on the defensive line.

Kelly has landed six transfers as well, not nearly what it was the previous two years when 29 of his 69 signees were from the portal, including three originally from Louisiana. The latest is Liberty wide receiver  and Georgia native CJ Daniels, who committed to LSU just yesterday.

“I think it really stabilizes the program,” Kelly said after the bowl game win over Wisconsin. “For us, it’s been recruiting, development, and retention. You can’t do that when you’re 3-9. When you have back-to-back 10-win seasons, and you’re doing it with bowl victories as well, it certainly helps a lot.”

Part III of this series will be about the impressive coaching staff Kelly is building. Good times are ahead in Baton Rouge, assuming this clown world we live in will allow it.

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Jeff LeJeune is the author of several books, writer for RVIVR, editor, master of English and avid historian, teacher and tutor, aspiring ghostwriter and podcaster, and creator of LeJeune Said. Visit his website at jefflejeune.com, where you can find a conglomerate of content.