Urban Meyer: LSU is a 'tough ass place to play'

Urban Meyer knows a thing or two about LSU from his coaching days and he loves what Brian Kelly did in Year 1 and is excited for Year 2.

Meyer simply called LSU a “tough ass place to play,” citing the Tigers as a team that could make a playoff run this year. LSU was the SEC runner-up to Georgia in 2022, but managed to beat Alabama to win the West.

There’s no denying LSU has a significant home field advantage. Perhaps the Tigers will make a run to the final four as Meyer alluded to.

“I think LSU has a fine coach,” Meyer said on Urban’s Take with Tim May. “I think he adapted much quicker than I thought. LSU is a tough ass place to play. He’s a good tough coach now. So I got Texas and LSU are two teams that I see them, if not in playoff, they’re gonna be right there.”

LSU brings back stars on both sides of the ball such as quarterback Jayden Daniels and linebacker Harold Perkins.

Daniels could be a dark horse Heisman contender after putting up the best numbers of his career. Perkins broke out as a freshman and is considered one of, if not the best linebacker in college football going into the 2023 season.

LSU is expected to contend this year, once again, but maybe people should pay attention a little bit more. The preseason All-SEC teams were littered with Tigers.

Fortunately for those in Baton Rouge, Kelly has been able to add talent over the past two offseasons. Not just through recruiting but also via the NCAA transfer portal.

“Look, six is a huge number including three on each side of the ball,” Shea Dixon of On3’s The Bengal Tiger said when joining the On3 Roundtable. “They had a lot of guys scattered throughout the second and third-team. So, it speaks to the talent… Just on the first team alone, you see Brian Kelly has had a big hand in either playing true freshman or going and getting transfers who end up having a big impact on the team.”

Even before looking at the results and last year’s SEC West title, Kelly has done a great job turning the roster around. It’s easy to forget where it sat after the 2021 season.

“It speaks to the pulse of the roster, where he has it at, where they needed to fill holes,” Dixon said. “And now we see LSU’s roster continue to get better and better. Remember, it wasn’t long ago they had 38 scholarship players on roster.”