Pressure Looms Brian Kelly as LSU Insider Gives Transfer Portal Ultimatum Amid Garrett Nussmeier’s Future Ambiguity

Let’s face it. LSU suffered a blow in its 2025 recruiting class. Along the way, Brian Kelly lost some of his top-rated high school players, like 5-star QB Bryce Underwood and 4-star commits LaJesse Harrold and Derek Meadows. But now that the transfer portal is open, can they recoup what they lost by making the best out of it? Perhaps they should leave those star ratings out of the conversation?

In a new YouTube episode on Off The Bench: LSU on December 11, former LSU player T-Bob Hebert dropped his take on what he expects Brian Kelly and the Tigers to do during the transfer portal period. He said, “I’m not chasing stars right now. That’s not what I’m doing if I’m LSU. I’m chasing production… There’s a couple of position groups here that LSU’s gotta have multiple bodies. Go get production. Go get people that you can plug and play because that’s what you need with this team. And so I hope that’s how they attack the portal.”

It seems Brian Kelly is very much prepared for what he intends to do with the portal, saying, “We’ll be very aggressive… We’ve already put ourselves in a position, and I’ll use this term loosely, well under the ‘cap’ to where we could be quite aggressive this year. And we will be in that area.” There have been multiple reports about LSU targeting certain offensive players. 

LSU is reportedly targeting OL Josh Thompson, and for good reason. The Tigers are set to lose three O-line starters—Will Campbell, Garrett Dellinger, and Miles Frazier. The Northwestern transfer is the No. 2 OL in the Big Ten and could fill the void. There are also a couple of WR targets—Kentucky’s Barion Brown and Texas Tech’s Micah Hudson—who are both coming off a productive season. But should they also be wary of their QB Garrett Nussmeier’s ambiguous future in Baton Rouge? 

Is Garrett Nussmeier coming back to LSU?

This has been a season of ups and downs for Garrett Nussmeier, who led LSU to an 8-4 record. Following their last regular season game victory against Oklahoma, he revealed that he persevered through potential injuries for the sake of those seniors playing their last game. It could be a hint that he’s coming back next season. 

His decision, however, is pending because he provided an ambiguous response on his future in Baton Rouge. He said, “I have not decided about that. I’ve not had any discussions, any conversations. I wanted to leave that out till after the season.” But let’s give this 22-year-old a breather. He’s still got one more year of college eligibility. Besides, with Bryce Underwood’s flip, LSU might need him for one more season. 

But even if Brian Kelly needs to tweak his QB depth, about 30 QBs are already in the transfer portal, including USC QB Miller Moss. Still, there’s a feeling that this won’t be the last we see of Nussmeier at LSU.