By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
New LSU football coach Lane Kiffin has had all his introductions to LSU and Baton Rouge since arriving in town last November, including a full dose of spring practice.
But something hit him as he jogged onto the field for the Tigers’ first preseason practice on Wednesday morning.
“Yeah, it was awesome. And it kind of hit me this morning going out there,” he said at a press conference following the workout. “A lot of respect for the program, a lot of gratitude for this opportunity. With that, a lot of work to do. Everyone was in really good spirits, really good energy. We have a long ways to go. We have a lot of really good pieces. We have a chance to be really good. But everybody wants to know how many wins is that. That’s all outcomes. There are so many variables in that. We’ve got a lot of work to do with these pieces, getting them to play together well and play as a team. And then there’s always outside circumstances, things that happen in games, injuries that have a lot to do with win-loss total.”
LSU reported in full health and all players expected reported.
During the media viewing portion of practice for two periods shortly after 10 a.m., most eyes were on new quarterback Sam Leavitt, who is coming off surgery on his right foot that ended his season midway through last year at Arizona State.
“I thought Sam had a great day today,” Kiffin said. “Really looked the best that he’s looked, and that was exciting to see. He looks more comfortable with the receivers. His progression has been really good, and I think he’s right on pace. He looked really good (running). Sam’s been moving around really well. And if you just went out today and saw him, I don’t think that you would think that there was an injury. He’s all the way back from that. Now, it’s just getting him with the timing and everything.”
LSU will practice again Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
PARTIAL OFFENSE DEPTH CHART: The opening first team offensive line was the same one that closed spring drills with Jordan Seaton at left tackle, Bo Bordelon at left guard, Braelin Moore at center, Aliou Bah at right guard and Weston Davis at right tackle. The No. 2 line was also the same with, from left, was Sean Thompkins Jr., Devin Harper, William Satterwhite II, Ja’Quan Sprinkle and Darrin Strey.
The first team running back was Caden Durham followed by Dilin Jones, then Harlem Berry.
DEFENSE DEPTH CHART: The first team defensive line had from left to right Princewill Umanmielen, Malik Blocton, Deuce Geralds and Justin Ross. Whit Weeks and T.J. Dottery were at the linebackers with Dashawn Spears at the star position. The cornerbacks were DJ Pickett and PJ Woodland. At one safety was Ty Benefield with a surprise at the other safety in redshirt freshman Jhase Thomas of Destrehan over returning starter Tamarcus Cooley.
But Kiffin downplayed Thomas being at No. 1.
“Jhase has really done a good job, plays multiple things, and we rotate a lot of guys early in camp,” he said.
The second team defensive line had from left had true freshman Lamar Brown, Stephylan Green, Richard Anderson and Dylan Carpenter.
“Lamar is a great height-weight-speed combination and very rare to find,” Kiffin said of the No. 1 prospect overall in the nation for 2026 out of University High on the LSU campus. “And he’s an awesome kid. Really intelligent, really well spoken, has really good thoughts when you meet with him about being great and what it takes.”
The backup linebackers were Davhon Keys and Tylen Singleton. CJ Jimcoily was the backup star. Ja’Keem Jackson and Michael Turner were the backup cornerbacks. The No. 2 safeties were Cooley and Faheem Delane.
NEW NUMBER FOR DJ PICKET: Cornerback DJ Pickett was wearing No. 5 instead of his No. 3 from last season.
Kiffin said Pickett changed his number to 5 because he was promised that number when he was being recruited by the previous staff before signing in 2024 from Zephyrhills, Florida, as a five-star prospect. But he never got the number until now. He played wearing No. 3 last season.
“The kid’s promised something. He should wear it,” Kiffin said. “It should be honored what he was told.”
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