BATON ROUGE — First-year LSU coach Les Miles will finally get to see his new team in action on Friday at 3:30 p.m. as the Tigers open spring drills with the first of 15 workouts as the Charles McClendon Practice Facility.
Just as in the past, all LSU football practices are closed to the public.
The Tigers will practice in shorts and helmets on Friday and Saturday before putting on the pads for the first time on Monday. The Tigers will have five practices before taking a week off for spring break from March 19-27.
The Tigers will resume practice following spring break on March 29. LSU’s final spring practice, which will be a controlled-scrimmage with game-like situations, will come on April 16 at 11:30 a.m. in Tiger Stadium.
In the two months since taking over as LSU’s head coach, Miles said he has reviewed all game film from last year and met with every player on the team.
Friday’s practice will also be the first for seven new LSU assistant coaches. Among those first-year coaches for LSU include defensive coordinator Bo Pelini and special teams coordinator and linebacker coach Bradley Dale Peveto. Offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher and offensive line coach Stacy Searels are the two holdovers from the previous staff.
In regards to spring practice, Miles said, “it’s about what we have, making sure we can count on it, seeing how the personnel fits the new scheme and seeing what we can do.
“There are some things we want to do on offense, defense and special teams with some obvious differences on defense and special teams.”
Miles inherits an LSU squad that is coming off a 9-3 overall mark and played in the Capital One Bowl in January. The Tigers return 20 starters, including 10 on offense and seven on defense, from the 2004 squad.