The frustration was palpable on Saturday night leaving Tiger Stadium. The dejection was as well. Another inexcusable loss occurred for the LSU Tigers. The fireworks’ smoke from Saturday night lifted by Sunday morning. However, the feelings of angst and disbelief remained.
Truth No. 1 – LSU needs accountability not excuses
There’s not really a feeling that Lane Kiffin isn’t taking accountability for the 6-4 record. People are always going to throw shade at Kiffin regardless thanks to his two decades worth of polarizing behavior. That doesn’t mean that he’s shifting the blame for his failures on anyone besides himself no matter how much his haters wish he would.
That needs to continue being the case regardless of how the rest of the season goes.
Red zone turnovers, missed assignments, and roster improvement are all reasons for this year’s failure. And all of those things fall on the shoulders of one person – Kiffin. Now is not the time for any ChatGPT graphics in the ops building. It’s also not the time for any other theatrics. Get rid of the basketball hoop. Don’t even drop a hype video. Every bit of energy and effort in this program right now needs to be solely focused on winning football games. Finishing the season at 8-4 isn’t what this season was supposed to be, but ending the season with a 7-5 record and an 0-5 mark against Top 25 teams would be a catastrophic failure.
Truth No. 2 – An expensive roster doesn’t mean it’s a championship roster
“We’ll have better rosters, and that’s no poor reflection upon these players. We just will. We will have been here. We’ll have built depth. We will. We won’t have senior days with two scholarship players.”
That’s a quote from Kiffin in his postgame press conference. Admittedly, I didn’t have a problem with that comment. It was the next one that I took issue with.
“Look at them in warmups…they didn’t build that in a year,” said Kiffin about Texas’ roster.
When Steve Sarkisian took over as the head coach at Texas he inherited a roster with 23 wide receivers and just eight offensive lineman. These are not similar situations. Kiffin was given a checkbook with nothing but blank checks to hand out to players coming into Year 1. The $40-50 million roster should’ve been enough. But remember that doesn’t even include the handful of players he tried to roster that were cut from NFL rosters. There were reports that at least one of those players was garnering an NIL deal of at least a million dollars.
The main point here is that everything that was asked for was given to Kiffin in Year 1. There was so much to believe in prior to the season, but as everyone has now learned, a $50 million roster doesn’t mean a trophy comes with purchase.
This offseason the spending needs to be done with much more intent and purpose. There’s a lot of potential for the future that’s currently on this roster. There are several key players that could come back next season. Whether they will or not will remain a mystery until about two months from today. But, the needs that will be addressed in the portal are not limited to a quarterback who doesn’t turn the ball over. An offensive line, another edge rusher, and several replacements for some of your best players are all on the shopping list.
Don’t be afraid to find a bargain, and I don’t know, develop them instead of just buying the most expensive and shiny piece available.
The Lie – This should have been expected in Year 1
If there’s one take everyone should be tired of, it’s the notion that this should have been expected in Kiffin’s first season. The idea that Nick Saban lost four games in his first year at LSU and six at Alabama doesn’t matter. Comparison is the thief of joy for one, but if we are going to go down that road, Kiffin ain’t Nick Saban. Period.
Not winning a national title in the first season is fine. Struggling to get to the SEC championship game in the first year of a nine-game conference schedule is also understandable. But, save me with the idea that you couldn’t win a single game against a ranked opponent with this roster and this home schedule.
You caught Clemson and Texas A&M in down years. You caught Mississippi State without its potential No. 1 overall pick at quarterback. Almost all your biggest games were at home, and you got almost all of them at night. There are six new head coaches in the SEC this season. Only one has yet to register a win against a Top 25 team. It just so happens that it’s the one being paid the most and has the most expensive roster.
That can’t happen regardless of what year your tenure is in.
