Monday brought LSU football to the midpoint of preseason camp, with the Tigers completing their 11th practice of 22 under first-year coach Lane Kiffin. After practice, Kiffin’s news conference offered a useful snapshot of where things stand, and three themes stood out.
The first was the rankings, which Kiffin brushed aside almost as soon as they came up. LSU landed at No. 11 in Monday’s preseason AP media poll, one spot ahead of its No. 13 showing in the coaches’ poll, a sign that voters view the Tigers as a College Football Playoff contender.
Kiffin, though, wants no part of preseason buzz. “I don’t think anything of it,” he said.
“We don’t know as coaches, let alone media or coaches of other teams. There are so many news players to figure it out.”
Kiffin does not vote, though Tulane coach Will Hall does.
The second takeaway came from LSU’s first preseason scrimmage on Saturday, a closed-door 170-play workout that included live tackling on half the reps. Kiffin said the defense generally won the day.
“The first defense played extremely well,” Kiffin said. “They gave the offense a lot of pressure and had good overage.
That was good to see. The first offense struggled for awhile but played well later.”
There were also a few individual notes worth watching. Tight end Trey’Dez Green did not practice Monday, and his camp has already featured plenty of appearances in non-contact yellow jerseys, so his health bears monitoring.
Kiffin also had praise for backup quarterback Husan Longstreet, saying “His throwing motion looks completely different.” As for defensive end Damien Shanklin, Kiffin again gave little away.
Shanklin has not been seen during preseason workouts, though he remains on the roster, and it is starting to look like he may not play in 2026.
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LSUs first scrimmage of fall camp gave the staff a much clearer look at where things stand after 11 days of work, and Lane Kiffin came away encouraged by several parts of the operation. The offense got a long look in a session that stretched past 170 plays, the defense showed up with a strong effort, and running back Harlem Berry continued to draw attention as he develops in camp.
Even with those positives, Kiffin also pointed to areas that still need sorting out before the season arrives, especially along the defensive front. The challenge is not just talent but depth and experience, and with the Tigers still building toward opener week, the next stretch of camp will matter for how comfortably they can line up at that spot when the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
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There was also a separate concern in the quarterback room, where Sam Leavitt appeared tired and off in his timing as the Tigers went through practice. Even so, Lane Kiffin downplayed the situation afterward and said the players who missed practice should be fine, which should keep the focus where LSU wants it: on the ongoing competition for jobs and on how quickly the depth chart can settle before the season starts. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Saban Just Reopened A Painful LSU What-If
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Sabans comments land with extra weight because they frame LSU not as a stop along the way, but as the place where he believes his long-term coaching legacy should have stayed rooted. Even after everything he went on to accomplish, the idea of a longer stay in Baton Rouge still lingers as one of the sports great what-ifs. For LSU, it is a reminder that the program once had one of the games defining coaches in place and, for a moment, let him slip away. [Read more 🡒]