LSU’s preseason no longer looks anything like the old “Camp Curley” days, and Lane Kiffin is leaning into that change from the jump.
There was a time when LSU summer work meant three-a-days, early-morning starts and plenty of contact. Curley Hallman’s “Camp Curley” fit that mold, and it came after LSU had stumbled into the 1991 season on the heels of the program’s first back-to-back losing years since 1955 and ’56.
The workouts may have left the Tigers tougher on paper, but the results never followed. Hallman went 5-6 in 1991 after losses of 31-10 at Georgia and 45-7 at Texas A&M to open the year, then LSU finished 2-9 in 1992, 5-6 in 1993 after a 58-3 home loss to Florida, and 4-7 in 1994.
Gerry DiNardo brought a similar hard-nosed setup and got three winning seasons in a row from 1995-97, going 7-4-1, 10-2 and 9-3. But LSU slid to 4-7 in 1998, and a full-contact practice two days before the SEC opener in 1999 didn’t help matters when Auburn rolled the Tigers 41-7. That Auburn team finished 5-6 overall and 2-6 in league play.
LSU was 2-8 and 0-7 in the SEC when DiNardo was fired, riding a 10-game league losing streak that stretched back to 1998. The program then turned to Michigan State’s Nick Saban, a coach with a tough reputation and NFL defensive coordinator experience, though he generally stayed away from two-a-days.
Now Kiffin is taking a much lighter route. LSU opened preseason practice Wednesday with a 90-minute session, and Kiffin said the program is using “a ramp-up program to prevent injuries.”
“There’s not much work out there, but that’s really long-term thinking,” he said.
The schedule backs that up. LSU had Thursday off, then went to a night practice at 6:30 in cooler temperatures.
Friday is set for a walk-through, Saturday brings a morning practice and Sunday is another off day. The team will move into morning and night practices next week before the work gets more demanding later in August.
Kiffin said the plan mirrors what he did last August in his final season at Ole Miss. That Rebel team went 11-1 in the regular season, finished 7-1 in the SEC and then went 2-1 in the College Football Playff after Kiffin left for LSU following the regular season.
“We kind of started that last year, just looking at being fresh at the end of season and avoiding injuries in the first five days of practice,” Kiffin said.
Ole Miss closed the regular season with a 5-0 stretch of double-digit wins as practices became shorter deeper into the year.
“Looking at last year, we were as healthy as any team going into the playoffs, if not healthier than anybody,” Kiffin said. “I think a big part of that was because of our change to practicing less and less.”
That’s the idea now at LSU: less pounding early, more legs later, and a better shot at winning when it matters.
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