LSU Offseason Recap: Where LSU Did and Didn't Improve
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Lane Kiffin's first offseason at LSU brought sweeping change across the roster and coaching staff. Five weeks of spring practice offered the first real look at how much of that overhaul actually stuck.
The result answered a lot of questions, but it also raised some more. Some units clearly grew as spring wore on, while at least one long-running problem area is still searching for answers.
That's normal for a program replacing its head coach, offensive coordinator and much of its two-deep in a single offseason. But LSU has found itself facing the highest expectations in Year 1.
The Offense Found Its Footing
Early spring practice showed a first-team offense that struggled to sustain drives, with stalled possessions, interceptions and drive-killing holding penalties becoming a common outcome. Kiffin was candid that his retooled offense was well behind a defense that kept most of its key pieces and coaching staff intact.
By the midpoint of camp, though, the offense began settling into its new system and pushing back against the defense, and that trend only grew stronger in the final weeks.
The last practices open to media showed far more balanced execution between the two sides than had been the case earlier in spring.
Quarterback play backed that up.
Growing pains never fully disappeared at the end of spring, but the trajectory by the end of spring was clearly upward, and the offensive efficiency was clearly better.
The Running Back Room Became a Real Strength
Beyond the offense settling in overall, one position group stood out on its own: running back.
Wisconsin transfer Dilin Jones caught the coaching staff's attention throughout spring, impressing in pass protection, and with his vision and footwork. Kiffin pointed to Jones as one of the few settled answers on an offense still sorting out several other spots.
Jones was the most consistent back in practice and ran with the first-team offense for much of the spring's final stretch. That kind of clarity is a real shift for a backfield that entered spring with two high-production returners. But Jones made his mark despite the veteran presence.
Solidifying the Offensive Line
Not every unit made that kind of progress.
By the time spring wrapped up, LSU still hadn't settled at least two starting offensive line spots, an issue coaches hoped would sort itself out once preseason camp begins in August. That's a frustratingly familiar storyline to last season for Tiger fans.
The line entered spring with roughly a third of its players as returners and only two returning starters from a year ago, which meant new competitions at nearly every spot. Some notable transfers were known to compete for, if not locking down, those spots by the end of spring. But that hasn't fully been the case.
Spring practice didn't resolve those battles entirely, and they'll now carry into fall camp with less runway before the season opener.
The stakes for getting it right are high. LSU's offensive line problems in 2025 were severe enough to undercut the run game and quarterback protection all season, and those issues cascaded into a midseason coaching change.
A nearly full rebuild up front was always going to take time, but after an entire spring of new pairings and no settled two-deep, the line remains the clearest area where LSU still has real work to do before September.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/lsu as LSU Offseason Recap: Where LSU Did and Didn't Improve .
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