BATON ROUGE – Brian Kelly hasn’t been surprised. Rather, he’s been pleased.
LSU football‘s first-year coach has seen a willingness from his players to adapt to new habits, taking on his approach and preparation style with the kind of effort and intensity he requires.
“There’s been a lot for them to handle,” Kelly said Saturday after the fifth practice of his first spring with the Tigers. “This is quite different for them. Different in the way that we’re preparing them.
“So I think they’ve done a really good job with routines because we’ve changed the routine.”
The changes in routine for the players have come in a variety of forms. That includes the importance of timeliness to the pace at which the Tigers have been practicing — with speed, efficiency and intensity.
“We’re always running, constantly running,” said senior wide receiver Jaray Jenkins. “Fast-paced, just like how it is in the game, opposed to last year which was kind of different.”
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For linebacker Mike Jones Jr., the routine that has been altered the most is his diet.
“I didn’t know how much protein I needed to eat every day, I just (didn’t) eat bad stuff,” Jones said. “No. I need a certain amount of things. I need to hydrate this much.”
That includes taking his vitamins every day.
“I’m a fifth-year senior and I can tell you like, literally with the vitamins, I’ve always told myself I’m taking vitamins, I’ve always had vitamins but I never took them (regularly) until now. And it’s like that for the whole team and everybody’s buying into the little things.”
Changes were bound to happen under Kelly, especially given his reputation at Notre Dame as someone who preaches discipline and accountability.
Offensive line coach Brad Davis was the Tigers’ only returning assistant from last season and many of the players are unfamiliar with each other. LSU brought in 29 players from the high school ranks and transfer portal ahead of spring practices.
The changes haven’t been for everyone either, with linebacker Josh White, long snapper Quentin Skinner and cornerback Pig Cage transferring out of the program since the start of spring practices.
“With a new staff obviously it’s always hard,” quarterback Garrett Nussmeier said. “You never understand at first, you’ve got to build on the relationship, kind of learn how you mesh with your coach. And I think we have great coaches.
“We’re at where we’re supposed to be at every second. And I think that’s been a positive change.”
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For Nussmeier, the assistant he’s bonded with is quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan. Nussmeier, who likes to share his sense of humor, has found a match with Sloan even though the work has been serious.
“I love Coach Sloan, he’s awesome,” Nussmeier said. “I like to be able to crack a couple of jokes every once in a while with my coach and get them back sent at me, so Coach Sloan is awesome with that. It’s real personable and I love it.”
Kelly said that the goal of the first five practices hasn’t been about determining who’s starting at quarterback or cornerback. He said practice reps have been divided evenly between scholarship players, regardless of their status on the depth chart.
Instead, the goal has been to implement new habits and routines, on and off the field.
“Routines are about, ‘I have to do this at 12, I have to be here at three,’ ” Kelly said. “But they have habits that have been instilled in them as well. We’re trying to reshape habits and that takes longer.
“I don’t know if (I’m) surprised as much as pleased with their willingness to do what’s necessary … to be a championship team.”
Koki Riley is a recruiting and high school sports reporter for The Daily Advertiser and the USA TODAY Sports South Region. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Brian Kelly, Tigers players on LSU football spring practice change