LSU Deep Dive: Kiffin Era, Coach O's Return & 2026 Season Preview

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Fellas, are you excited for gumbo? Yeah, man.

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Super excited.

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Some Cajun food. Can't wait. Gonna be some hot sauce. Urban Street. The hot baddies for KK, the love machine, all that and more on the other side of the Red Zone Blitz.

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Tuned in to the Red Zone Blitz for all things NFL in college football.

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How are we doing, fellas? Good, good. Fellas, I just wanna say I recognize that uh we may have not fixed KK's mic uh last episode. I thank all 42 of you that emailed me personally telling me that we are suppressing the love machine. I I'm very sorry. Uh that was a technical error on my part. Uh rest assured the love machine is is sitting here. He's mic'd up. I'm here, I'm here. Yeah, he's here. He's wow, that sound sounded very sounded very affectionate. Sounds sounds like it's about a sounds about some rub some rub some nice lady down. I'm here, I'm here. Don't get your don't get your panties in a twist here. Kk the love machine is here. How you fellas doing?

SPEAKER_02 1:01

I'm great, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

I hope not a whole lot of NFL news. We will talk about NFL in our later episode this week. Josh Jacobs did get arrested for domestic violence. Once a raider, always a raider. Am I right? Am I right? There you go. In terms of uh in terms of college, I mean Brendan Sorsby, Texas Tech, uh is going to be going into the uh supplemental draft because the NCAA came down and they said, you know what, uh, that's enough from you. You will uh not be playing in the NCAA further this year, so he's not eligible to play. Therefore, his future is either being a DraftKings specialist on DraftKings, coming on the red zone blitz, or going to the NFL. It really is only those three. Or hear me out, Johnny Manzel just went and uh fought in MMA. He did fight Bob Menry. Yeah. That was calling it a new opponent, calling it calling it fighting is uh yeah is is a beautiful stretch. You know what? Brendan Sorsby's probably gotta be a pretty good gambler for him to be under the radar of the sports books. So maybe he does have a future in uh in calling betts. Maybe he could make a lot of money by just definitely starting his own like well, what was the point of going to rehab then? That's just so he could go down and play in technical. Well, he can he can provide insight on what to do and then not the team that this well, the people that this really screws probably is Texas Tech because I don't really think they have a backup plan now, and they're probably fucked. Um Cincinnati, if they knew about this all along. Boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. Yeah. What a what a time to be alive. What a time to be alive. Fellas, we're gonna keep this one a little LSU focused. We're gonna keep it little college football focused, LSU focused. There's tons of stuff happening. You know, we're gonna go full LSU today. Now, the Brian Kelly era is dead. Lane Kiffin is in Baton Rouge. Everything has changed since we last talked about LSU. So Lane Kiffin got hired. That was a happy day. That was a happy day for all LSU fans. Brian Kelly was, of course, fired mid-season. All that lovely stuff happened. In his introductory press conference, Lane Kiffin called uh Coach O on the drive to Tiger Stadium. Channel designer Coach O and yelled, uh, how do they yell? Is it go Tigers? Go Tigers on out the car window. He called it an elite LSU an elite uh program in all of college football at his introductory press conference. LSU added roughly 40 transfers this offseason, the number one transfer portal class in 24-7 sports history with a score of 349. And now when it comes to their quarterback, you know, Garrett Nusmeyer graduated back up Van Burn, entered the portal. Kiffen landed Sam Levitt out of Arizona State, who led ASU to the Big 12 title in 2024. Now Levitt is recovering from a foot surgery coming in. Jordan Seaton, former five-star top offensive tackle in the portal, coming over from Colorado. Edge rusher, Princell. I'm not gonna try it. I'm not gonna try it. I mean, I don't know how tough one. Elite pass rusher from Ole Miss following Lane Kiff into LSU. Ty Benfield, uh, the safety first team all Mountain West, held Boise State to three straight Mountain West championship titles and a college football appearance. They also rate retained key pieces: linebacker Wit Weeks, all SEC, running backs Harlem Berry, Kay Durham, tight end Tradez Green, and their top freshman is the number one high school recruit in the country, Lamar Brown. Now, my question, I'll start with the LSU man on the podcast. Uh tell me more about Sam Levitt. From what you've read or what you what you've seen, who is Sam Levitt and what does he bring to LSU that maybe Garrett Nussmeyer didn't?

SPEAKER_02 4:41

Yeah, so like you said, Sam Levitt transferred from Arizona State. Uh he was Big 12 offensive freshman of the year in 2024. So what he brings to LSU that Garrett Nussmeyer maybe didn't was he's more athletic. He's very accurate, he especially on the run. This guy was uh mate, like with the loss of Scataboo at Arizona State, like he showed off his legs and he extended plays and had big runs. So he's great outside of the pocket, more elusive than Nussmeyer, and can run the ball and extend plays, can throw on the run really well. It fits really perfectly with Kiffen. Like I think uh Kiffen really likes to run like a high tempo spread kind of offense with run pass option. So what better guy to use? I mean, this guy is he can run around, he can scramble, he's quick release, very accurate. So it's a good fit.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Yeah, and I think it's the perfect guy when a coach gets to pick his quarterback right off the bat. I think now more than ever in the college football era with transfer portals and IL, it's easier for coaches, big name coaches with big big name dollars to go and get their guy. And it's it's and listen, when you're starting a team, which which positional player would you guys pick? QB. QB, yeah. Right. The number one, the number one spot for for anybody would be quarterback. And I think if you're confident and and we talked about it in my in our most recent episode with Taran Kovach when he talked about the Huskies and and how their quarterback now is potentially maybe LSU's guy, there's a specific style that Lane Kiffin's after because you see the parallels in both those players. Now, KK, we talked about all these players coming in. You got uh, and I ask you this question because when it comes to the locker room, you're really the main man on our Beer League hockey team that gets the pulse of the situation. And any team that I've played with you on, you happen to know the pulse of what's yeah, no, you you know it. And I think that's a very important skill is to be able to diagnose the pulse of what is going on more than just the hockey or more than just the football. When you talk about a locker room, you talk about getting all of these guys together from various parts of the country who've played in different programs, learned from different people, played with different people. Is there any concern now about the new players gelling together in time?

SPEAKER_00 6:56

There's big time concern with LSC. You spend what what was it 25 to 30 million?

SPEAKER_01 7:03

That's reported. That's reported 25 to 30.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

It could be well up to 40 plus coach, 40, was it 40 transfers, a QB that's injured right now?

SPEAKER_02 7:13

Yeah, not to mention almost all of their receivers are transfers as well.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

A losing season a year ago, pretty much. Yeah. It's not like it may quite. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

And you're going into a uh very bright spotlight in not just the SEC.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

New coach.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

A new coach. Yeah. And and it doesn't make it easier that it was a very illustrious leave from Alice or Ole Miss to Alice.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

All the pressure's there on Lane Kiffin, but what he has and what he's done in the past is he holds people accountable. He's making them do film study, work ethic, training in the weight room. So all that's gonna come down. Like I feel like he's gonna have the guys ready and he must.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

The difference, I think, between Lane Kiffin and Brian Kelly, who was there before him, is Lane Kiffin likes to be involved. Lane Kiffin embraces the storyline. He's a recruiter. He's a recruiter, he likes to be in the face of people.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

He brought in a bigger recruiter, pretty much.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Yeah, we're getting to him, we're getting to him. But he Lane Kiffin's thing is he wants to be in part, he wants to be a part of all those things. He wants to be front and center. Lane Kiffin's a brand, right? Whereas you when you look at Brian Kelly, Brian Kelly didn't want to talk to boosters. Brian Kelly did not want to go out and you know, like hang out with the guys. The thing is, is what the okay, let's say it what it is. This is the horniest coaching staff of in the entire nation. Yeah, you really had to with Coach O. Come on. Well, let's jump to him. Let's jump to him. Coach O is back, ladies and gentlemen. And this man to my left had it before everybody else. I did. He had it before everybody else. It was a probably a cold December night, and and young Matt over here was going, We gotta bring Coach O back. We gotta set the culture right. That's right. Matt was just talking for the sorority girls when he said that, but you know, you LSU might have the horny to my going back to my previous point, yeah, more probably the most horniest coaching staff in football. Because these guys, listen, you might not respect Lane Kiffin for the man uh he is in terms of football. You might be like, nah, coach, that's fucked. But what's gonna be really fucked is when Lane Kiffin has your girlfriend bent over from the sorority house, and now you're like, fuck, man, I gotta compete with my coach for my girl. So you tread carefully in LSU with with Lane Kiffin at the helm.

SPEAKER_02 9:25

I'm just saying, hey, I'm just saying you've been watching too much Blue Mountain State.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

Hey man, I'm just saying, I'm just saying. And then now we got the big bad oh my god, you got bad.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

That was a great addition he made.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

Coach O is huge. Yeah, coach O'H that is a non pre that that is one thing that he made. It's like a positive PR hire.

SPEAKER_02 9:43

Yeah, and they've worked together for many years. They've worked together. He knows LSU, he knows the culture, right? You got Kiff in, he's an offensive guru. You bring in Coach O. Like, look, listen, Coach O after 2019, you could tell like coaching for him was just get it was hard on him. He was he loved the game of football, but mentally he was just like, I want to be around this, but it's getting too much for me. Now he comes in as a special assistant.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

And well, he's a big time recruiter. Yeah, yeah, he's a well especially in that state.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Well, yeah, they love him in that state, man. And he's a motivator, right? And you can you get him recruiting he was recruiting guys right away. He was on FaceTime with two five stars the next day he was hired. Now, what does this mean? Is this, do you think, uh a more symbolic move, Matthew, or do you think this has got like recruiting potential, like we were talking about? Like, or do you think this is more like hey, the vibes? We gotta get the vibes right.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

I think it maybe is a little bit more about the vibes because kit listen, Kiffen's still a really good recruiter. The fact that he was able to get the transfers coming from Hole Miss, you know, says it says it itself. But look, like I said, Coach O is a motivator. You pair him with the offensive guru in Kiffen. It's just somebody who's who is an LSU legend, right? You you get him in and he can just get the guys ready to play. Yeah, like yeah, but what better guy to have on the sideline to just get the whole team riled up?

SPEAKER_01 11:03

The vibes are vibing, the vibes are vibing. Now, KK, does it feel weird to you that the man who won a national title at LSU is now working under the guy who replaced the guy who replaced him? That was a tongue twister.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

It seems weird, but they've done it many times.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Yeah, they're a tandem.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

They're tandem. Like I think he's replaced Kiffin a numerous times, or Kiffin's replaced him numerous times. So it's always a tandem.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

I think any other two, it would probably be a little weird. Like any other combo.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

I mean, yeah. Kiffin knows what he's doing. He's bringing back guys he wants to build this LSU program.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

And I think the thing about I think the thing about LSU that lost it with Brian Kelly was swagger. There was not a lot of swagger. And you look at teams that have swag Miami had a lot of swagger last year, right? There's a guy down in Texas that's trying to give his team swagger through the through press conferences, Steve Sarkeesian. He's trying to talk his way, his team into the conversation of swagger. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame, tons of swagger. Ohio State, we don't need to talk about how much swagger they have. Every guy's oozing with swagger there. Georgia's got swagger. So it's like LSU's kind of loss of the fold. Like 2019, LSU was so dominant that I feel like they kind of were satisfied with like, yeah, we just absolutely destroyed every any team in our path. We're kind of good. What I like about Coach O and like why I think that this works is the man's won. And the man's won there. Yep. Right.

SPEAKER_02 12:27

That's his alma mater as well.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

And it's okay to because we're gonna get into it. They're gonna lose some games. Like LSU's schedule early on is hey, it's not they're they're not like there's some big games, and you know what else is the fucking like absolute craziest game is the return to Ole Miss.

SPEAKER_02 12:47

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

And I think this is more Lane Kiffin bringing in his buddy so his buddy can be with him on the bus ride, being like, it's hey, it's gonna be all right.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Well, that could be a big turning point in their season. That game right there.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

They win that game. It's suddenly like Elaine Kiffin gets to go and walk by, throw up the finger to everybody, call his usual sorority girl down over him and Coach O gonna bang one out real quick, and then they're on there playing back to Baton Rouge. How do you do? But it's all about putting in the necessary steps. I think this is a very important necessary step. It's a it it you have almost nothing to lose, and you have everything to gain. It's one of the most easiest, easiest home runs.

SPEAKER_02 13:24

Because he's not coming in as like a coordinator, it's just a special assistant.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

He's an and and lane's not hiring a guy who's gonna be uh coming for his job. Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_00 13:34

It's not something where well you hope he doesn't take over down the road.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

Yeah, but even then, like I don't think Lane's bringing or Coach O's coming down there, being like, I gotta take this guy's job. I think Coach O's very happy being special assistant of and to recruiting in defense and chilling out, having a good time, making sure the vibes are good, boys are hitting their helmets into each other in practice, drinks are buzzing, you're having a cold one, girls are having a good time, all that stuff. Whereas if he had come in as an off as a defensive coordinator, maybe next year, and let's say LSU hadn't had the start they wanted, and next year Coach O's coming in as defensive coordinator. Now people are like, what the fuck? He's coming for his job. Like he's gonna for his job. And so it takes away that little animosity. Anyone have any comparable moves? Have you ever heard of this happening in college football before? A former head coach who won a title returning to support and a supportive role. I can't really think of it.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

The only thing is retired coaches that have come back to help their Nick Sabin's gonna be the next watch.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

Nick Sabin's gonna be tired. He's gonna be tired of this, he's gonna be tired of this lifestyle that's happening. And you know what? Let me come back. Yeah, could have been come back to LSU. You know it, you know it. And uh LSU. Oh, well, oh hello. I didn't say I totally thought you were gonna say Alabama, but no, okay. LSU. Sabin back to LSU. Let's start the train here.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

For Giffen?

SPEAKER_01 14:51

The coach whisper has spoken. The coach the coach caller has spoken. That's what we're calling Matthew from now on. Uh, college game day, fellas, going to Tiger Stadium week one. The Lane Kiffin era open September 5th. We're saying Clemson at Tiger Stadium. College game day. We'll be there. We might be live streaming that game, actually. We uh might be doing that week one. Uh we'll try to figure out all our tech and everything else. But we might be reacting and commenting live to the game. Now, this is a return game. LSU beat Clemson 1710 in the 2025 season opener at Memorial Stadium. The ABC broadcast, 6:30 p.m. Central Time. Kickoff, Death Valley at night with game day on campus. Gonna be a good time. LSU is favored by 10.5. Now, I guess I'll open it up to both of you guys. It doesn't get much better than this to launch the Kiffen debut, is it? No way. This is perfect. Like, you got the night game, it's at home. Yeah. You got game day.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

But that's a big game for Lynn Kiffin and LSU.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

And Clemson.

SPEAKER_00 15:51

And Clemson.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

Yeah, they're the and Dabble Sweeney. I think he definitely is, yeah. I mean, look, he lost like, what, nine guys to the draft? Who knows with Clemson?

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Clemson's a wild card because it's kind of a big game for even LSC.

SPEAKER_02 16:05

Week one for any team I can do.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

You've brought in, will you be ready for game one?

SPEAKER_02 16:09

Yeah, we got to see in training camp, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:11

But the thing is an injured quarterback right now.

SPEAKER_02 16:13

Yeah, injured quarterback. Weeks is also injured. You know, they're there's their uh star player on defense, so he's coming back from an injury. It's gonna be tough. Like looking at those first four games, though, I don't know. We're gonna get there.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

We're gonna get there. Yeah, no, no, not yet, not yet. We're gonna get there, we're gonna get there. Uh, don't jump ahead, don't jump ahead, we're almost there. But my thing is more so like I I agree with you guys. I think it's it's A, it's the perfect position for his debut. Yeah, uh, B, I think there's tons of factors involved. I think both, yeah, you're right. They need to start off hot. And what I'll be looking to watch is because I don't think LSU is gonna be able to, I and quote me if I'm wrong, I think they're gonna start off a little slow and a little shaky. You got 40 guys coming in on the roster, and that's okay. Hey, you could be listening. Some of that 40 is from old miss. Well, yeah, but it's still you're gelling in a new environment, right? You're gelling it, but my thing is like it's okay for them to start off slow. Like in terms of like the first quarter, second quarter, I think they're gonna start off a little slow. That second half of that game, I want to see what adjustments Lane Kiffin makes. If that is the case, if they do, if they start off fucking hot, great. They fucking great, awesome. But if they start off slow or it's tight, I'm gonna be looking to see what that halftime adjustment looks like.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

They gotta grind it out and find a way to get that leave.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

Because that's what they pay them for. Yeah, they didn't pay him for recruiting, they didn't they could have got another guy for recruiting, they didn't pay him for anything else. I think they paid him for Lane Kiff and a halftime, telling this guy this is what you guys need to do for they didn't pay him for next season. No, no, this they they paid him for this is this season, and it's it's different out there, man. It's different. I've been listening to the Paul Finnembaum show every day, here and there while I'm working. I'm listening to him. Callers are calling in. CC football is different. People can say whatever they want. The people there live and breathe this thing. Like they live and breathe LSU football, they live and breathe Alabama, they live and breathe Auburn, Georgia, et cetera, et cetera. Like all the teams that people cheer for. Now, what I think is my thing, my take on this whole thing is you can't go to Ole Miss. You can't go to Ole Miss in some trouble. Now, before we talk about Ole Miss and before we talk about the rest of the schedule, let's talk about some of the players that departed LSU. So you had Mansoor Delaney, AJ Halkey, Xavier Thomas, Bauer Sharp, Barry and Brown, Harold Perkins Jr., and of course Garrett Nusmeyer. I think, yeah, Matt, Mansur Delaney transferred in for one year and he went sixth overall. Is that you think the most impactful one and done transfer portal story you've seen?

SPEAKER_02 18:38

I mean, it's huge. It's very impactful. I don't think it's the biggest one. Yeah. The one I can think of is probably Cam Newton. I think going from the dynasty of Florida and winning the national championship to going to Auburn, winning the Heisman and the BCS national championship, and then becoming the first overall pick. I mean, it was he was on a generational run. It's a shame.

SPEAKER_00 18:57

Cam Newton was called Caleb Williams leaving Oklahoma for USC.

SPEAKER_02 19:01

Yeah, that was huge too.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

That's a good one, too. Yeah. That that's the thing. What people don't realize is the transfer portal can be very, very good for some of these players. Some of these players it can be absolutely horrible for. Like you're gonna, we don't there's hundreds of college football students each year that transferred from a good situation to a bad one. They didn't know it, and then their draft stock fell, or they even fell out the whole draft. We don't really give that much attention. But when it comes to these top end guys that can go in there and make that impact, and then right away they're bam, their stock shoots up because they're in the right place at the right time. It's huge. That's why I don't really I think they need to fix the transfer portal, they need to fix it. I don't agree with how it works, but I also don't blame the players as much for transferring because I think everybody deserves to find their right fit. And they're just trying to get paid too, right? The and the whole NF Exactly, exactly. Now, for both of you, uh LSU has had the top SEC pick three years running. Is this program the best in the country at developing and showcasing NFL talent? It can be yes or no, and you you I just I'm curious to see if it's who's the best.

SPEAKER_02 20:05

It's really hard to compete with Ohio State. Yeah, Ohio State is like just I mean, they look even really good this year, and they lost some of the things that we're gonna do. Dude, that's big.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

Like we're gonna we're obviously gonna we're gonna do a little preview ups on Ohio State. But the first round picks, Alabama's still in there. I think Alabama's offensive line needs to be in their defense. Yeah. I feel like it it ebbs and flows, I think. I think before in the old like pre-NIL era, you saw a lot of programs producing great talent. But the problem is now is like the player that normally would have sat two years or a year at Georgia and waited his turn to play is now just transferring out after year one because he's like, Oh, well, I can go get starting playing time at this school, or I can go play over there.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

And like you saw, like there's well, that's the only upside of the NLA portal is yeah, I want to leave to go play here to get play.

SPEAKER_02 21:01

Yeah, yeah. I it's good for guys that are coming from small colleges. Yeah, then it's like you know, they've shown at a small university what they can do, and then they go to a big, you know, SEC Big Ten school. It baffles me when guys like Isaiah Horton from Alabama transferred to Texas AM because I'm like, you probably could have been very successful at Alabama under Deborah and what they got going on there, but and then you just chose to pivot and go AM. Well, some guys just do it for the money. That's a big one, too. Like at LSU, like you know, Jordan Seaton's getting paid maybe upwards of six million dollars through NIL, and it's the biggest con uh biggest deal out of any offensive lineman in history. And that's a big question for LSU. Is he gonna be able to produce?

SPEAKER_01 21:42

Well, it's like when you're paying all that money now, it's an expectation, and that's what I mean. I think I I think it was Lane Kiffin that was talking about is like before it was hard for us to find these guys, it was hard for us to like discipline them because they were not making any money, they were like college students, but he's like, now they're making. This is a job. Like you're making six million dollars. This is a job. You're you better show up. You better go film stuff. You better do this. Now we gotta before we go into the season preview. We gotta talk about Mr. Nussmeyer. Obviously, seventh round, 249th overall. Kansas City Chiefs. Fair landing spot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

I don't think there's a better place you can do that by Kansas City.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Are you gonna win a ring pretty quick? Ring chance.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

There's a good coach starting QB if you get healthy.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

There's a man, there's a good mentor in Patrick Mahomes. There's the right place in Andy Reid. Uh it sucks because you're not gonna be making a whole ton of money and you're gonna go from the number one quarterback at LSU to the backup in Kansas City, and the backup in a place where nobody really cares about you.

SPEAKER_02 22:43

Yeah, but I mean Mahomes is coming off an injury. If he goes down, they need him to be game general. So he might be called upon pretty quick. Who knows?

SPEAKER_01 22:52

For his sake, I hope he does. Like I hope he does get called upon because I feel like it would be a cool story if he is successful. But I think mentally that's probably awares on you a lot. Yeah, he's gonna get healthy, but I think I'm talking more so about like the mental side of going from like top dog top dog on campus, right? You're the number one QB.

SPEAKER_02 23:13

But is it a great spot? Because then if Mahomes goes down and he has to step in, then they're gonna be like, fuck, we lost Mahomes, and this is they those are big shoes to fill.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

No, it's on him to show a lot of a lot of his spot will be because that's Mahomes team for the rest of his life. Yeah, exactly. Right? The even if Mahomes went down, Garrett Nessmeyer had a crazy year. They went to the playoffs, they did everything, they won the ring. Mahomes is Mahomes team, right? My thing is is at what point does Garrett Nessmeyer, if he is the guy, they're gonna try to hold on to him. If he's showing flashes of brilliance and practice and whatever, they're gonna try to keep him, right? The Chiefs are. At what point does Garrett Nessmeyer ask for a trade? What point does he ask for a change of scenery and go, hey, I I want to play somewhere? Because that will tell me if he is a true dog. Like if he is the guy that wants to play somewhere, great, because there's tons of guys out there, like you got like the Mitchell Trubiskys and the uh there's tons of like high-end players that got picked high and they never made it. But then there's sometimes guys that pick get picked late. Brock Purdy, you see Dak Prescott balling out. It's sometimes all you need is a chance.

SPEAKER_00 24:21

That's right. Now that there could be a team that decides to trade for him, right?

SPEAKER_01 24:24

I am now chalking myself into Garrett Nusmeyer turning into Dak Prescott because yes, Tony Romo did go down, yeah. In the preseason game. Oh boy, oh boy. Uh fellas, we talked about it. We hinted it a little bit. We hinted it a little bit. Let's uh talk about the schedule. You got Clemson at home, week one, Tiger Stadium College Game Day. You go week two to Louisiana Tech. That's also at home. Uh Tiger Stadium, non-conference game. Week three, you're going to Ole Miss. Kiffin returns. That's gonna be emotional. Then you got week four, Texas AM, week five versus McNeese, week six at Kentucky, week seven, Mississippi State, week eight at Auburn, week nine at Alabama, week ten, sorry, week nine is at home versus Alabama, week ten, Texas, week 11, Tennessee in Tennessee, and then week 12, Arkansas. So for me, it really this schedule breaks into two themes. You have the first four weeks of Clemson, Louisiana Tech, Ole Miss, and AM, and then there's a bit of a lull there, weeks five, six, seven, but then you're right back at it to go in Auburn, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, and then closing out at uh Arkansas. Okay, talking September, first four games. What's the record?

SPEAKER_02 25:36

Ideally, four and off, but realistically, I could see them going maybe three and one. What worries me looking at that schedule to start the year, what's great is the home games. What sucks is that they gotta go to the road on the road to Ole Miss. And I think that's gonna be a tough put like you gotta bring in the National Guard on that one because the fans are gonna be gunning for Kiffin's head, and it's gonna be a very hostile put place to play. So I could see them maybe not getting the win in that one, but I bet you it's gonna be close.

SPEAKER_00 26:05

I think that Ole Miss game is gonna either start a streak, winning streak, or a losing streak. Because that's that's a big game. A streak. A streak.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

No, no, selfishly, please. No, I won't tell I won't tell, I won't announce it yet, but I really hope it doesn't start a losing streak. That would be depressing.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

Yeah, big. Like I think if you be Clemson in the opener, your second game's a little easier. You can be two and ugly. Yeah, Clemson doesn't bother me.

SPEAKER_01 26:30

That old miss game I think is huge for the it is well that's the just shut up, or like that that's all these interviews that these guys are doing. That's everything that they're talking about. You know those you know Ole Miss is gonna get the same thing repeated to them in the locker room, which is like that guy didn't want you. Yeah, like that guy didn't want you. Every guy, every every kid on the old miss team that's had their dad never return after going out to get milk is gonna be personally trying to kill the LSU Tigers. Now, where do you guys think they end up in the S Do you think A, do you think they can play for the SEC championship? And B, do you think they can win it?

SPEAKER_02 27:03

100%. I think they could do it. I think this is a maybe 10-11 win team throughout the year. I think they could definitely compete for the for the championship.

SPEAKER_01 27:11

I'll split up offense and defense between both of you guys because I agree with you, Matt. I think they're gonna be they they should be, yeah. I think that's that's given. I think with the amount of talent they have, otherwise coaching, yeah, it's a it's a bust if they can't. They gotta make the playoffs. The playoffs, if they ought to win the SEC, they gotta basically steamroll guys, they gotta like bring in respect back to LSU. I'll start with Matthew for offense. If Sam Levitt replicates what he did at Arizona State last year, what does that mean for LSU's offense?

SPEAKER_02 27:38

It just means high-powered offense. It's gonna be fast, fast tempo. I really the thing with LSU last year that was very disappointing was their run game. And I think they have two great backs in Harlemberry and Cade Durham. So if they can utilize halfback screens, you get Jordan Seaton rolling out, maybe uh Levitt keeps, maybe he throws it down the field. They got that big weapon, possibly the top tight end in the nation, and Tradez Green, who's 6'7, 240 pounds. So you have so many weapons for Levitt to use. You've got Lane Kiffin, who is an offensive genius. All the pieces are there. The big thing is his foot injury. We we need to just make sure I want to see the training camp. I want to make sure you know he's good to go. Because really behind him, they had like a JUCO transfer and then a freshman. They actually recently got a middle Tennessee quarterback transfer. His name is Caden Martin. So there's a bit of security there, but the big thing is you paid all this money because the boosters are paying all the money to Kiffen and the program because they want to see Levitt, they want to see him succeed. So that's the thing. I think they're gonna go more fast paced this year with everything. You're gonna see a lot of screens, you're gonna see a lot of you know, trick plays even.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

They have the key to that is health. Family has to be healthy, they have to protect the quarterback, they have to make sure he's standing upright after every hit. He cannot be getting ragdolled and killed. He has to be healthy.

SPEAKER_00 29:03

The big thing with that, the offense is the chemistry. Yeah, getting everybody on the same page. You gotta build a playbook, you gotta get to practice.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

These guys gotta start work now. Yeah, like right now is that the case is a good thing. That's where Coach O comes in.

SPEAKER_02 29:16

Yeah, that's where Coach O comes in too, right? He is like, I know how to produce an LSU culture brand. Brian Kelly didn't do it. You know, he faked his accent or whatever, and Coach O called him out. So I think Coach O can be like this, you know, the reason why Alabama and Ohio State were so successful is because they built a brand. It's like a New England Patriots, do your job. It's a it's a moniker, a motto that they can all wrap their head around and get to the one goal of winning the national championship. So when Ed when Ed Orgeron goes in there and he's telling the guys, this is what we're gonna do. Lane Kiffin is like he's gonna set you up for success. You gotta buy in. So that that's what they're aiming for. Brian Kelly couldn't do that with them.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

Yeah, no, 100%. No, I agree with you. Now, talking a little bit about defense, sometimes that gets a little bit lost in uh these big name schools is their defense. And with Blake Bar uh Blake Baker back as defensive coordinator and Witt Weeks returning at linebacker. Okay, do you think defense is being overlooked by most people? And do you think that maybe is a more of a strength that people aren't noticing?

SPEAKER_00 30:20

I think right now it's the strength of the team. You got a new offense, new players coming in, but you got Wid Weeks, linebacker. That's your leader, that's your captain.

SPEAKER_01 30:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:29

No, I think he's the general, not defense.

SPEAKER_01 30:31

Well, a lot of these games are gonna come down to their defense. Because I think a lot of the a lot of the SEC comes down to whether or not it's like you're at a boxing fight, right? Like b punches are gonna be thrown. It's about whether or not you can keep your eye open.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

So I think he's the glue to that defense.

SPEAKER_01 30:45

No, I agree with you. I agree with you. I I'll ask for each of you any bold predictions for this season? Like for the pla sorry, for bowl games or like for no anything. Like just like what's your prediction for LSU, like for the season? Like uh win total, biggest upset, breakout player, or anything. Whatever you like to say. Like, what's your big you could talk about over under on how many girls Lane Kiffin gets caught up with?

SPEAKER_02 31:06

I think LSU could go all the way, honestly. Maybe that's me, just me being a homer, but I think they could do it.

SPEAKER_00 31:11

All right, Natty. I think they can, but I think they got two sets of big games, as you said, them the start of the season and then near the end of the season. Can they win those big games against Alabama? Texas.

SPEAKER_01 31:22

Okay, what's your bowl prediction? Can they or can't they? Who do they Oh, there you go. There's your bowl prediction. Who do you think they lose to out of their those stretches?

SPEAKER_00 31:29

What's a surprise loss that you're like, oh, they should have won that, but they lose. I'd probably say Clemson to start, and then I'm interested to watch that. You think they're gonna lose to Clemson? I think that's a big game, week one. Low-key KK is a Clemson guy. If you're not ready and Clemson's on the hot seat, their coach, that's gonna be a massive game. Low-key low-key KK is a Clemson guy. I'd also like to see the Texas game.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

The Texas game will be crazy because that is the first time for Archimanic. First time since 1953 that Texas will be playing in Tiger Stadium, 73-year absence. So that'll be a statement game. I mean, my bold prediction is very clear, is very clear is these two horny men are gonna fuck around and find out. They're gonna do the runs. Something's gonna happen. These guys are gonna end up Diana Russian. They're gonna end up getting suspended at some point. They're gonna get they're gonna have to sit for a game or get fined, or something's gonna happen with these two horny bastards at the helm. It's gonna be trouble. Fellas, before we wrap up, a little announcement, little bit of an announcement here. Myself, Matthew, and KK, the love machine, will be in attendance for one of these games. We're gonna be in attendance for the LSU versus Texas AM game Saturday, September 26th at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Uh, this massive game, week four. SEC play kicks off night game in Death Valley, fingers crossed. Aggies beat LSU 49-25 last season, and they're gonna be coming into town all time. LSU leads their series 32-25 or three. Uh, but AM's won the last two in a row. Uh I guess I'll start with both of you. Is uh what does it mean to you guys personally be going to uh LSU versus Texas AM in Death Valley?

SPEAKER_00 33:09

I can't wait for that. Looking at it, was it 100,000 capacity and that's probably a little bit more, yep. Wow, just the noise level, the like I might have to bring my earplugs.

SPEAKER_01 33:20

It is gonna be rocking. It's gonna be rocking.

SPEAKER_02 33:25

Death Valley Saturday night. It's just that is all-time bucket list.

SPEAKER_01 33:29

Everything I've read normally, you go and you read something, it's like you know, you got 10 comments that are great. You get three, two or three comments that are, you know, not so great about an experience or going there or whatever. Everything I've read about LSU, being there, being at the tailgate, me the people, the southern hospitality, all of it has been nothing but positive. So I'm we, you know, we're very excited.

SPEAKER_00 33:51

We're gonna nothing we've experienced before.

SPEAKER_01 33:53

No, no, not even close. There's gonna be nothing that and we're gonna we're gonna be going down for that. I really hope they pull out the win. I think that'll be too. I think it's gonna be a party in the city if they pull out the win. It's gonna be a what a what a year for uh for Matt. Uh he's got he's got Pittsburgh under his belt this year, he's got LSU under his belt. It's a big year, big, big year for the for the chosen one here. Uh fellas, anything to to tell KK you got a message for your listeners?

SPEAKER_00 34:19

I gotta give a shout-out.

SPEAKER_01 34:20

Oh, hold on. Okay, yeah, go ahead. I'll play some music for you to give you a shout out.

SPEAKER_00 34:24

Go ahead. I recruit for LSU Ty Benefield as a Vancouver boy. There you go. Yeah, I used to watch his dad back in the day, David Benefield. Oh, very nice.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

Hey, let's get might have to get the eye on the podcast. Yeah, Vancouver boy. Might have to lock in. KK with some homework.

SPEAKER_00 34:38

Later in high school, he moved up to California.

SPEAKER_01 34:40

KK, KK locked in. KG locked in. Any message for uh the young faithful, Matt?

SPEAKER_02 34:46

I would say Lane Kiffin and Coach O. Let's go party it up at the sorority houses.

SPEAKER_01 34:52

We would love to party with Koach O and uh Lane Kiffin. Mr. Kiffin, if you're listening.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

They know the best spots.

SPEAKER_01 34:57

Big fan of your work, Mr. Kiffin. Big fan of your work. Once again, thank you guys for listening to another episode of the Red Zone Blitz. It's unbelievable the amount of support and the amount of love we get. Before I forget, our trip will be powered by the Baton Rouge Blitz. Um they're gonna be taking care of us and bringing us down from New Orleans, where we'll be watching the Saints game on Sunday. I'm down to Baton Rouge. A special shout out to them. If you want to partner us with us on this trip, we're gonna buy some new equipment, have some new cameras, some new mics. It's gonna be a whole festive time. Hit our line, redzone blitzpodcast at gmail.com. You can follow us on TikTok, X, Instagram. You reach out to us there at Redzone Blitz Pod. Uh where can people find you, KK, on the good old Instagram?

SPEAKER_00 35:37

KK Redzone Blitz.

SPEAKER_01 35:39

And Matt U. Matt underscore RZB99. Amazing. And you know what? Until next time, shout out to my boy Shadow Dawn for this beat. I'm gonna outro this thing out. We're gonna be back real soon with another episode. Thank you once again for listening. We appreciate each and every one of you. Uh much love. Go have your beer and uh God bless.