BATON ROUGE – Garrett Nussmeier, nor LSU football coach Brian Kelly, are looking for development in his game this spring.
The development as the Tigers quarterback went through its maturation process more than a year ago in the lead-up to the ReliaQuest Bowl — after Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels opted out of the game and Nussmeier piloted LSU’s offense in the lead-up and through that game.
Further shaping took place last spring practice in Baton Rouge, then through offseason workouts and ultimately fall camp.
Nussmeier is the LSU starting quarterback, no questions asked. And this spring for the senior signal caller, it’s about expanding confidence as he creates relationships and chemistry with a bevy of new LSU receivers.
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“It’s building a relationship with all of his receivers is what we’re looking for,” Kelly told reporters earlier this week. “He’s got some deep threats, some guys provide him with a lot of different options from (Oklahoma transfer) Nic Anderson with his size to (Kentucky transfer) Barion Brown with the vertical threat. Getting a relationship with even Chris Hilton who he didn’t get a lot work with last year. It’s been really, for me, much more about getting him as much work with the receiving crew and getting on the same page. That seems to be coming.
“I think what we’ll see a quarterback that comes through the spring and just feels really confident with the options that he has.”
The receiver room this spring, Hilton said, is one built on speed. But there’s a welcomed mix of guys that can do a variety of things and that’s where Nussmeier’s work with the new guys comes in.
“All the transfer guys can bring different levels. (Florida State transfer Destyn Hill), Nic, Barion, they all have that deep ball ability to go get it. That’ll be something that’ll really help us,” Nussmeier said after the team’s practice Friday. “They’re each very good at their own individual skill set.
“My thing has been get the timing down, be on the same page as them and continue to build our relationship.”
Aaron Anderson, Hilton and Zavion Thomas headline a strong core of receivers back for the Tigers and for Nussmeier to target. Anderson had a team-high 61 receptions last season for 884 yards with five touchdowns. All together, the trio hauled in 93 catches. Hilton only had nine of those grabs but finished the season in a flurry.
He said Friday that getting in sync with Nussmeier is the receiving corps’ top priority as it’ll help the overall flow of the offense as the Tigers near the 2025 season opener at Clemson on Aug. 30.
“The speed in dangerous but that’s not something you solely want to rely on,” Hilton said. “We want to perfect all aspects.
“We’re very fast. I feel like we all complement each other. We’re a family. If one person is down, you’ve got somebody there to pick him up. We all get each other going.”
Players are playing ball together for the first time and it’s going to take time, Nussmeier said he’s told his new teammates. There’s been acceptance that there’s going to be mistakes during the spring and early in the process.
The goal is the have things ironed out come the end of spring.
“It’s been about meshing, our chemistry in the passing game. Up front, we got a lot of different guys going in at a lot of positions, mixing and matching,” Nussmeier said. “Just gelling and finding that chemistry is going to be the biggest thing. We’ll work that throughout the rest of the practices. But I’ve been pleased so far of how guys have attacked it.
“We’ll build the confidence as we get going and get that chemistry going.”
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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier, Brian Kelly on his top priority for spring
