BATON ROUGE – Coming off back-to-back 10-win seasons, LSU returns to the practice field on March 5 when the Tigers open spring drills under third-year coach Brian Kelly.
The Tigers will practice 15 times during the spring, culminating with the National L Club Spring Game on Saturday, April 13 in Tiger Stadium. Kickoff time and other details surrounding the game will be announced later.
Kelly and LSU welcome back 22 players who started at least one game in 2023 – a group that includes the return of four starters on the offensive line. The list of returning starters on the offensive line include a pair of All-SEC selections in tackles Will Campbell and Emery Jones.
As a unit, LSU returns a combined 99 career starts among its four returning linemen with Campbell and guard Miles Frazier leading the way with 26 each followed by Jones with 24 and guard Garrett Dellinger with 23.
Other key offensive returnees for the Tigers include quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, running back Josh Williams, tight end Mason Taylor and wide receivers Kyren Lacy and Chris Hilton. Nussmeier earned ReliaQuest Bowl MVP honors after leading the Tigers to a 35-31 win over Wisconsin.
Williams is back for a sixth season and returns as LSU’s leading rusher with 1,012 yards and 11 touchdowns in his career.
Lacy is LSU’s top returning receiver with 54 receptions for 827 yards and seven touchdowns, while Hilton has caught 22 passes for 405 yards and three TDs. Taylor leads all returning players with 74 receptions for 762 yards and four touchdowns.
Defensively, the Tigers return three of their four top tacklers from 2023 with safety Major Burns (93 tackles), and linebackers Greg Penn III (89) and Harold Perkins Jr. (75) all back to lead a defense under first-year coordinator Blake Baker.
In two years, Perkins has racked up 26 tackles for loss, 21 quarterback hurries and 13 sacks making him one of the most disruptive linebackers in college football.
Other key returnees include defensive linemen Sai’vion Jones (33 tackles, 2.5 sacks) and Jacobian Guillory (27 tackles), edge rusher Bradyn Swinson (35 tackles, 6.5 TFL), linebacker Whit Weeks (49 tackles), defensive back Sage Ryan (42 tackles), and cornerbacks Ashton Stamps (23 tackles) and Javien Toviano (33 tackles).
Damian Ramos, a two-year starter, returns as LSU’s placekicker. Ramos is 22-of-29 on field goals and 132-of-134 on point-after conversions in his career.
LSU will host Pro Day on March 27 with the LSU Coaches Clinic taking place on April 4-6.
March
Week 1: 5, 7, 8
Week 2: 19, 21, 22, 23
Week 3: 26, 28
April
Week 4: 2, 4, 6
Week 5: 9, 11, 13 (Spring Game)
Key Spring Dates for LSU:
March 5 – First day of practice
March 27 – Pro Day
April 4-6 – Coaches Clinic
April 13 – National L Club Spring Game (Tiger Stadium)