Few quarterbacks in the SEC are coming into 2025 with starting experience.
Texas quarterback Arch Manning is the betting favorite to win the Heisman; however, he only has two career starts under his belt.
But LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier is entering the 2025 season having played in 31 career games, including starting all 13 games for the Tigers in 2023.
At SEC Media Days, LSU head coach Brian Kelly’s comments about his starting quarterback shouldn’t go unnoticed as the fifth-year senior aims to win the 2026 National Championship.
It’s no secret that LSU has a track record of sending elite quarterback talent to the NFL. Joe Burrow has been a top quarterback in the league for years, and most recently, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels was the NFL Rookie of the Year and took the league by storm in 2024.
In 2024 — his first full season as the starting quarterback — Nussmeier threw for 4,052 yards, 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Now, Kelly is confident that his quarterback will take a similar leap to what Daniels made in his second season.
“Garrett Nussmeier will have a similar jump. It’s because you go on the road and it’s sold out, you play teams that are so well-coached and so balanced and have great players that you have no choice but to learn, develop, and get better, or you’re going to be left by the side,” Kelly said.
“So that’s why I’m so confident that experience in this league at the quarterback position is the most important thing. Could you come in and play as freshmen? Absolutely. But there will be those moments where you look like a freshman. You look like a first-year player. Garrett will tell that you. And he wasn’t a true freshman. He had seen it, been there.”
Despite having the second-best odds of winning the Heisman Trophy in 2025, Kelly said winning the award is not Nussemeier’s goal.
“All of our conversations with him aren’t about individual goals, they’re about how do I lead this football team to a championship,” Kelly said. “All we’ve seen is him leading, him being selfless. His selflessness is going to be the differentiator from last year to this year, as well as the experience he had playing against really good SEC teams.”
Kelly also highlighted Nussemeier’s mentality and willingness to learn and improve as a player as one of the reasons he believes his quarterback has what it takes to win in the SEC.
“Every day he comes to workouts, every day I come to practice, he’s looking for areas to improve on. I would tell you that experience is going to be his best teacher in the SEC. Having played a year in the SEC and seeing what needs to happen on a consistent basis is most important,” Kelly said.
“He brings the individual trait that coaches love because he wants to be taught, coached. He wants to be coached hard. He wants to be coached in a manner that gets him to be the best version of himself.”
