Why Competition Across LSU Football Roster Will Pay Off in Long Run

One of main goals spring will accomplish is exposing Tigers strengths, weaknesses and how to address them

Every day LSU players are asked to fill out a personal wellness questionnaire on their phone every day. The goal for Brian Kelly is to create good habits within his program, in the classroom, the community and on the football field. 

The team went seven straight days with every player on the team filling out the questionnaire before there was slippage, a positive in Kelly's mind that the players are bought in to creating the habits Kelly believes help build a championship level program.

"The physical preparation has been different for them," Kelly said. "It's been an adjustment and what I could tell you is I've been really pleased with the consistency of approach. We're all creatures of habit and the habits they had were different so there's been a give and take, a push and a pull.

"I'm really excited about the overall group in terms of their grit. They wanna do this, it's important to them." 

LSU will be starting spring practice a bit later than past seasons. Usually the Tigers would split up the workouts with spring break somewhere in the middle as a good break for the players in between sessions. But from a competitive and physical readiness perspective, Kelly said the Tigers just weren't ready to start spring practice and learn what they needed to about their team.

The goal of this spring is for this team to unlock the strengths and weaknesses of this roster to give Kelly and this staff a better picture of how to adjust the schemes and personnel this summer. 

"We want to be able to evaluate our football team in a manner that allows us to say 'here's who we are' going into the summer," Kelly said. "Here's our strengths, here's our weaknesses. I wanna expose them in the spring, I don't wanna cover them up. I wanna know who we are so we can go to work on those and when I get into camp in August, I can start addressing them."

With the team ready to get started on attacking the competition of what this spring will surely offer, the focus will shift to scheme and beginning to get a better understanding of what potential roles could look like come fall. This spring is as important as any for this program in recent memory, with 17 mid year additions (12 via the transfer portal, five freshmen) to incorporate into the program. 

But because there are new philosophies, habits and schedules being constructed on a daily basis, it's just as important for the returning players on the roster to perform in all elements.

"Now we're going to start working on the technical and the tactical to the game," Kelly said. "We get to have practices, get to talk about technique, how the units come together. We need to have great attention to detail and be smart in how we do things."

With so many positions up for grabs, the word "competition" has been uttered more than anything else in Kelly's media pressers. All eyes will naturally gravitate towards the quarterback but offensive line, safety, linebacker and running back will be just as important to building out a complete team. 

Having that competition established this spring will help Kelly and the staff collect data on how those strengths and weaknesses can be addressed.

"My job is to build competition in every position. If you don't like competition this isn't the place for you. I came down here because I love competition so it starts with me and runs through every position," Kelly said.