It's the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. What's up everybody? This is Ross Jackson, one of the hosts of the lockdown podcast network. And if you haven't heard yet, we started a club and we would love for you to join. It's called the every day or club. And one of the things that you get as a member is an ad free version of the podcast that you're listening to right now. It works with whatever podcast app you already use. Same episodes every day. Just no ads. There's also a members only group chat for fans of your team plus a lot more. You can check it out by tapping the every day or club link in the show notes. LSU starting quarterback is done for spring, but Lane Kiffin thinks that's not a big deal. You'll hear why next locked on LSU. Here we go. You are locked on LSU your daily podcast on the LSU Tigers part of the locked on podcast network, your team every day. Okay. Let's get it. It is locked on LSU your team every day. I'm your host, Matt Moscona. Thanks so much for making us your first listen. LSU hit the halfway point of spring practice on Tuesday. Afterwards, Lane Kiffin met with reporters. We're going to spend this episode telling you the high points of what Lane Kiffin had to say. And there's no more important conversation than Sam Levitt. Of course, the LSU transfer quarterback coming in from Arizona state. By now, you know the story suffered a list Frank injury in September of this past season, tried to play through it ultimately had the surgery in October, missed the remainder of the season, hit the transfer portal, picked LSU when Sam Levitt committed to LSU. And if you're an every day or an have been with us for a while, you remember this conversation. When he committed and signed with LSU out of the portal, the conversation was that LSU's coaches sort of knew that Levitt was not likely going to be able to go through spring. Optimistically, they hoped he might be able to do some seven on seven work. So I think seeing Sam Levitt so far through the first six practices of spring, throwing with the receivers and doing some seven on seven work kind of meets what was the optimistic approach for Levitt coming into spring. Well, on Monday, Sam Levitt on his Instagram story posted that he had the, the, the pins taken out of his foot from the, the list Frank injury, the list Frank surgery. And Lane Kiffin did say on, on Tuesday, when he met with reporters that Levitt's on crutches and that's unlikely he'll participate for the rest of spring ball. So that means with, you know, eight practices to go seven in the books, it really seven more to go. And then the quote unquote spring game, which is really just going to be a, a fun day for the whole team. They won't have Levitt out there for the rest of spring. And so Lane Kiffin sort of explained what the update is on, on Levitt and why he doesn't feel like it's a big deal. None of these are surprised. You know, this is the timeline we expected and had the screw removed yesterday and everything went well. Um, you know, it was, it was something that going into it, we were going to know that you know, it was going to be unfortunate. He was going to miss spring a lot of it and, but that was going to allow the other guys opportunities and just kind of looked at things, you know, about, I just feel nowadays, you know, it's a little easier to play quarterback than it used to be years ago. As far as how long you've been there, you look around the country, a lot of people transfer and go play at new places and look at the previous place we were at. I didn't get there until the summer. So you know, kind of that went into the decision where I feel like years ago, you've been really concerned that the quarterback's going to miss your spring. He's done a great job mentally in the meetings and walkthroughs and able to throw some individual before this procedure. Okay. Um, there's a few things there. So first of all, Lane confirmed what we just talked about, that this was the timeline they expected. They were not expecting Levitt to do much in spring and they're glad they got six practices out of now. My contention is has been and will continue to be that, you know, with so much new on offense, new quarterbacks, at least three new starters on the offensive line, possibly four, um, all new receivers with only one scholarship receiver returning new offense, new coaches, new terminology, so much new. I think every rep is valuable. Now the point Lane Kiffin made there is a good one. So he started about turning to that Chambliss who came into Ole Miss from Ferris State in June and boy did he assimilate quickly. And I think that helps because Chambliss had been a starting player for multiple years in college football. So he's a veteran player. It's guys early, already 23 years old. So that transition, I think for Chambliss was easy because he's a more mature player. So the timeline was expected. And yes, this does give opportunities to land in Clark and to Huson Longstreet. But you heard Kiffin say there it's never been easier to play quarterback than it is right now singling out sort of identifying what happened with Chambliss. It'll miss this past year. And there's some truth to that. Indiana won the national championship with Fernando Mendoza as their quarterback. It was Fernando Mendoza's first season at Indiana. He transferred in from Cal. They played against in the national championship game Miami, who was quarterbacked by Carson Beck. And Carson Beck was in his first year at Miami transferring in from Georgia. And might I remind you in Carson Beck's last game at Georgia, he suffered a UCL injury in the SEC championship game when his arm got deflected. He missed all of spring at Miami. All that to say, there is some validity here to what Blaine Kiffin is saying about quarterbacks being able to transfer. But I do worry about the flip side of this, which is all of the new. I do look at Joe Burrow coming to LSU in June of 2018 and really struggling for the first half to two thirds of that season. Wasn't really until November that he got comfortable and was playing better that season. I remind people all the time in 2018, Joe Burrow went the entire month of October without throwing a touchdown pass. Now Burrow was a first time starter, Levitt started his career at Michigan state, went to Arizona state, two year starter there, been to a college football playoffs. So maybe the fact that he's an older player in his fourth year in college has been a multi year starter has been in the playoff. That helps ease that transition. But remember last week, Blaine Kiffin talked about the quarterback position within this offense and he equated it to like a point guard and how important it was because they go so fast and there's terminology and all the things they do, the quarterback has to be able to react quickly and move quickly so they can go with their tempo. Well, how do you get good at that? If you're a quarterback, it's reps. And so my hope here for Sam Levitt is even with the downtime, with the foot injury and missing the remainder of spring, again, and Lane's right. They knew this was going to be the timeline. Making use of the VR room. This is something that Jaden Daniels made famous. You can go Google Jaden Daniels VR LSU. I've explained this before, but if you go into football ops, you pass the receptionist as you're going down the main hall, you look to your left and there's the sort of the ready room, which is the VR room where it's a long narrow room where you can put the VR goggles in and it's like you're simulating a game. So Levitt can get those mental reps using the VR system, not worrying about his foot. But what he can't replicate is the timing with the receivers, right? So you have the opportunity to go out there and get timing and rapport with a whole new group of receivers. That's something that will be a benefit for Clark and Longstreet for the remainder of spring. But most importantly for Sam Levitt is, look, get healthy and be ready to roll for the start of fall camp at the beginning of August. Be ready to roll and know everything there is to know about this offense. So when it's time to call it, he's ready to jam. I, I, I trust Lane Kiffin. He's a brilliant offensive mind that's not even debatable for all the questions that I and many have about Kiffin's ability to win at the highest level, which are fair because he hasn't done it. The thing that is not deniable, that's undeniable is his proficiency as an offensive coach. And if Lane Kiffin's not worried about Sam Levitt, you know, missing this time, then not only we should be worried about Sam Levitt missing this time, it is going to be a, it is going to put a lot of onus though on Levitt getting healthy and being ready to rock whenever, when fall camp begins there at the end of July or the beginning of August. Now, without Sam Levitt there, LSU scrimmaged in Tiger Stadium on Saturday and Lane Kiffin very clearly was not impressed with where his offense is right now. We'll hear that next. It's Lockdown LSU, your team every day. 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Get back to what Kiffin had to say in just a quick second about his offense and really the defense winning the day. But I want to remind you, you can get Lockdown LSU ad free with the every day or club, plus members only discord access. You can join with the link in the show notes. So link Kiffin, I've mentioned this to you before. I think he is very thoughtful and that's not to mean considerate of others. He may be, I don't know that, but it's to say, I think he's thoughtful in that when he speaks, he is very thoughtful or mindful of what he is saying. There are many times, look, in my career, and I've been covered in LSU, I've been in media since 2003, so 23 years. You could consider me a professional press conference goer. If you'd like, I mean, I've been to so many of these over two plus decades, right? That you learn a lot about how coaches and people communicate to and through the media. And laying Kiffin oftentimes doesn't care what you ask. If there's something he wants, if there's a message he wants to get across through the media, he's going to find a way to get that message out. And that happened on Tuesday because laying Kiffin was asked about the offensive line, specifically a position group we talked a bunch about. They're remaking that offensive line, right? I mean, you brought back Ray Lindmore and Weston Davis has been running with the ones at right tackle, but everything else is new on that offensive line. And it was so interesting because Kiffin was asked about the offensive line and in this clip that runs 55 seconds, what's a long clip? In the 55 second clip, he probably spent the first seven, maybe 10 seconds giving the most generic answer ever about the offensive line and spends the rest of the time talking about the defense. Remember, I'm going to play for you. The question was about his offensive line and who is standing out and what jobs, how many jobs on the offensive line are up for grabs? Okay. How many coach, how many jobs on the offensive line are up for grabs? Yeah, obviously a lot of new pieces there with guys coming in and retooling that room. I really like how well they've worked with the coaches. We have some great line coaches, two of which have been in the NFL. And so I'm excited about how they're coming along. There's a lot of work to do. You know, if we were to play right now, which we're not, we'd be a defensive football team. That's what Saturday was obvious. And now obviously that system's been in place. A lot of those players return comparable to the offense, but you know, we're always going to look different every year based off of our players. And we're going to never say this is just what we do. And so we may put together teams that went in different styles and we've done that before. And if we were to play right now, we'd play to our defense because we have some great defensive players that are playing really well. And until the offense comes along, but we're not playing right now. Not playing right now, but remember, remember that question was about the offensive line and he made the whole thing about the defense. Now he said we'd be a defensive team because of the system in place. I do think it, it's so interesting. Which is just a day ago, we talked a little bit about this and, and, and Blake Baker's opportunity to have a real breakout year. If you missed that episode, please go back and check it out. But the year before Blake Baker showed up 2023, LSU defense was atrocious. They were 108th nationally in total defense. It cost LSU in Jaden Daniels Heisman year. It cost him a shot at a national title, but Blake Baker's first year, they went from 108 under Matt house to 61st nationally in total defense to this year, 27th. So they went 108, 61, 27 incredible transformation under Blake Baker. We also told you that 10 of the 12 teams that made the college football playoff last year were in the top 18 nationally in total defense. The two outliers were two lane, which was 80th and they don't really count and Ole Miss, which was 48. We're still top 50, but again, a great offensive team as well. Lane saying the system is in play, being in place is true. Blake Baker is still there. All of Blake Baker's terminology. The entire assistant coaching staff on the defensive side is back except for Kyle Williams who bring in Sterling Lucas. And obviously you've added Chris Kiffin as a code DC coaching linebackers now as well. But you know, one of the things that I really like about this defense is in lane's not wrong. Right. I mean, the, he's compared the offense to an expansion team. You're starting over coaches, system terminology, quarterback line, receivers, everything like you're starting over. So I would expect with Baker back, there's so many players on that defensive side at all three levels back, the defense would be ahead of, of the offense. The question is, can that continue to pace? And the one thing about the defense though that concerns me a bit is depth. Like, let me, let me explain. So at all three levels of the defense, you return some really good players like Don McKinley's back at defensive tackle, Whit Weeks is back at linebacker, Pickett and Woodland are back at corner. DeSean Spears is playing the star position, but he's played a lot of safety. You bring back to Marcus Cooley at safety as well. So at all three levels, you bring back impact guys, but you also have lost the time. You lost your three primary defensive ends. You lost really all of your interior players, Bernard Gooden, Jacobian Guillory, a bunch more to the portal. You, you lose mon sword delaying. It was the best quarterback of the country. You lose AJ Halsey, who was your best defensive player last year really outside of the lane. You know, what would have been your leading tackler, but for sitting out of the bowl game. So just Devon keys past, but all that to say you return really good players at all three levels, but you lost a ton as well. And so you supplemented in the portal. And so when I look at edge rusher, for example, yes, Prince Willum on me, L improve in SEC edge rusher, but on the other side, Jordan Ross was a five star, but he's been a backup for two years at Tennessee. You know, I mentioned Don McKinley, a tackle, but you went and added Stafiola and green Clemson and Malik blocked him from Auburn. After that, it's a bunch of dudes that haven't played, including two true freshmen early and role ease that you're probably counting on. Now you added TJ Doddery at linebacker to be next to weeks, but after those two guys, who you really confident in? I mentioned the two corners and pick it in Woodland. Well after pick it in Woodland, Michael turner, Aiden Anding and who are we talking about? Joaquin Jackson's there as well. Certainly. And could, could we've seen Joaquin Jackson when they've gone nickel and they kicked Woodland down at safety, add a tie, Ben and field. But after Ben and field and coolly who, who's there, you see what I mean? So you have, I think a re really good first 11. And maybe even the next three or four, but you're too deep across the board. I think your depth is a real question. I'm not gonna say a concern because I think you have bodies, you have talent, but it's a quite, it's fair to say defensively, you have a big question there after your starter. So yes, the defense should be ahead of the offense right now, like Lane Kiffin was saying, but how much better is the defense than the offense and how much can the offense close that gap might dictate how they play when the fall rolls around. Now, mentioned two of those early enrollee, true freshman defensive lineman, one of them in particular, Lane Kiffin was asked about multiple times during his press conference. And you'll hear him talk about those guys as we continue here on Lockdown LSU at your team every day. Workplace chaos, deadlines stacking up, inbox overflowing, and the one position you have to fill, still sitting open. When the pressure's on and you need the right hire, this is a job for sponsored jobs. Indeed, sponsored jobs helps you reach the people who actually fit what you're looking for, skills, experience, location, so you're not just hoping the right candidate stumbles across your post. And here's the stat that says it all. In the minute we've been talking, companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed. That's according to Indeed data worldwide. So if you're hiring, spend less time searching and more time interviewing candidates who check all your boxes with Indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Let's go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on Lockdown LSU. Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. What if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood prediction markets. It's not you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long. Use your sports knowledge in the moments that matter. Robin Hood prediction markets changes the game. It's people moving the action. So when momentum shifts, you can move with it. I always knew the game, but never had a dynamic way to apply that knowledge. Now I can actually take part live in a market powered by people. You're no longer just a spectator. Play by play. You decide. Read every play with Robin Hood now available across the U S download the Robin Hood app now to begin futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robin Hood derivatives LLC a registered futures commission merchant and swap firm. I asked speaking of defense Lane Kiffin about both Blake Baker and Chris Kiffin being on the practice field. I thought my practice report episode from day seven, one of the things I mentioned was that Blake Baker spent four individual team periods working with four different position groups. He spent one working just with two Nickelbacks, PJ Woodland, Aidan Andy. He spent one working with the safeties, another working with three star linebackers and then the fourth with the entire defensive secondary. So I said, I asked Lane Kiffin with code defensive coordinators and Baker moving around so much like what are Chris Kiffin and Blake Baker's roles? Yeah, Chris coaches the linebackers and so I like that allows Blake to move around and coach everybody. And so I think that's gone really well because of the tempo. I think scrimmages are really value even more valuable, you know, coaches, communications and we have guys up in the press box on Saturdays because of that to work on that because I think that's a big part of where College of Ball is gone too, you know, because iPads because of communication to a defensive player and an offensive player. We practice that a lot and work on that a lot. So Blake's communication with the staff and with the player that we select is really critical to me on really critical, I believe on game day and some things that some people put a lot of value to and some don't. I think that's really smart and again, thoughtful, mindful. I don't know if it's going to work, but effectively what he's saying is so in years past, Blake Baker would have been just working with the linebackers. He's just the linebacker, could defense coordinator, but he only works individually with the linebackers. Now Chris Kiffin's work coached the linebackers and Blake Baker is working with everybody, linebackers, safeties, Nichols, corners, everybody and communicating with them because you heard him say now with iPads and with coaches in the booth and, and you know, the comms unit so that whoever the green dot is who's taught you, the coach is talking to on the sideline. It could be a player at any level of the defense. And what he's saying is I want Blake Baker to know all of these guys and how to communicate with them. So on a game day, our defensive coordinator can communicate with anybody on that defense. I think again, you're in the seventh practice of spring of the first year of a new head coach. And this is the type of high level stuff you're working on. Again, it may not work. I will find out they'll play games and we'll learn. Is it a good idea, bad idea? But it's something I hadn't thought of or hadn't heard coaches talk about before as well. Now they do have a ton of staff, which is fascinating and it allows them and affords them this opportunity. We know Lane wanted Chris always to have an elevated role in the field because he was an analyst for him at Ole Miss. And this afforded him opportunity to be the code C and title to make more money and to have a greater role. Fine. It's it's family. It's nepotism. It's what it is. But Chris Kiffin also is a very accomplished defensive coach. Like his resume speaks for itself. So even if the name was Chris Smith instead of Chris Kiffin, I could understand this decision. So that is going to be interesting to watch how that continues to go making that switch. Now, I mentioned also that Lane Kiffin was asked specifically about a young player as we were talking about interior defensive line. Deuce Gerald and Richard Anderson have been getting a bunch of reps with the ones. Deuce Gerald has been running almost exclusively with the ones in the 11-11 period that we've gotten to see. But Lane Kiffin was asked specifically about the other incoming freshman defensive tackle, Richard Anderson and his evaluation so far. Phenomenal prospect. You know, this guy is going to be a great player just a matter of time to when that happens and love how physical he is. Love how hard he's worked early. You know, again, these guys really are seniors in high school. We just over time have changed their enrollment, you know, for so many guys to come early. So he's doing a great job. A little banged up and played through it Saturday, which was good. So we're really excited about him. And then there was another question asked specifically about Anderson if he could make an impact as a freshman. I do. We're not very deep defensive line. So it was really important to bring in portal guys, but then also, you know, sign the high school guys that we did. And so there's very high expectations for him and the others. There needs to be. And it's not me saying it. It's Lane Kiffin saying we're not very deep. And in a portal class that included 42 players, you added Malik Blockton from Auburn and you added Stifle and Green from Clemson. And those are two guys you feel will make an impact along with Dominant McKinley. You know, returning now for his junior year, that's three. And then the two true freshmen have already been getting a ton of run after that. There's Brandon Brown. There's shown Washington. There's Achilles Woods who came in from South Alabama via the portal, but that's it. That's your whole defensive tackle room. So it's not a question of if he might Anderson make an impact. They need him to make an impact because their numbers are thin at defensive tackle, a spot where they could ill afford to lose anybody. One storyline or a following. You know, we'll follow it right here on lockdown LSU. So do me a favor. 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