LSU 2025 TIGERS' IDENTITY IS ONE OF OVERCOMING ADVERSITY

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By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

@LonnPhillips

After searching ruthlessly to find the identity of this 2025 LSU squad, Spring practices told you a little...but not the full picture:

Many of Brian Kelly's younger returning Tigers held their own during position battles against a litany of powerhouse transfer portal signings, while many of these 16 winter additions (most upperclassmen) rose up among the ranks, earned their place, became respected, vocal locker room leaders, and gelled alongside their new teammates with far more command & ease than expected.

Now joined by two more standout transfer portal additions from the post-Spring window, LSU's roster is replete with bona fide young specimen, a long list of renewed, re-juiced veterans, either longtime Tigers grabbing their opportunity or fresh new arrivals aiming to make it at the highest level of college football, there is no shortage of possibilities for Brian Kelly's 4th year squad this fall....

Without hyperbole or exaggeration, on paper, 2025 LSU is Brian Kelly's deepest & most talented squad across his 40 year college coaching career.....right when Kelly and LSU needed additional pedigree most.

Under pressure to deliver a deep College Football Playoff run, if not a title, this past off-season, Kelly mobilized roster management / NIL mastermind Austin Thomas, his entire recruiting staff, and the most cash ever spent by the Tigers during a single transfer window, signing 18 total players via the portal (16 in the winter, 2 during the spring), the most transfers signed in LSU history over a single offseason, putting together the #1 rated transfer class in America.

....despite the price tags, the core of this team isn't one born out of a money bag....the commonly shared identity of this team is the collective & individual adversity many of these 2025 LSU Tigers faced & overcame throughout their young lives.

One must first start by mentioning an overriding tragedy that cast a pall throughout LSU's Spring practices:

📸 Getty Images

This year's returning players were all teammates of wide receiver Kyren Lacy, 2024's #1 wide receiver on the depth chart (2nd on the team in yards, 1st in touchdowns) & a Tiger who was set up for a great future, passed away far too young in April, tragically taking his own life in a case that still breaks the hearts of many current LSU Tiger players and coaches; Specifically, close friends of Lacy including QB Garrett Nussmeier, WRs Chris Hilton and Aaron Anderson, position coach Cortez Hankton, and of course, Head Coach Brian Kelly (who spoke at Lacy's funeral and always publicly backed his receiver during his lifetime).

The loss of Kyren Lacy will no doubt linger upon proceedings for Kelly's team, however, honoring their fallen teammate is also proving a highly motivating & fulfilling factor.

Individually, some of LSU's most key 2025 Tigers battled their own adversity....from season-ending injuries, homelessness, medical struggles, taking care of a young child while dealing with a torn achilles, or players who were generally doubted and left behind by prior programs.......due to these circumstances, there is an iron will branded upon nearly every single 2025 Tiger:

📸 by the Daily Advertiser

While he was a Gator, Jack Pyburn fought through a late 2023 ACL tear, before battling a low snap count last season; Despite the limited snaps, nearly half the amount of other starting Florida LBs and edge rushers, Pyburn still racked up 60 tackles (almost doubling the output of his positional counterparts), plus 1 Sack that forced a fumble.

After fighting his way back from a nasty ACL injury with unbridled expedience (able to lift his knee for high steps following only 7 weeks of post-surgery recovery time), the Florida-born edge man was primed for a headline casting call as one of Florida's more eagerly anticipated 2025 defenders.

But when Pyburn entered the transfer portal, all hell broke loose, with many Gators fans feeling a vitriolic betrayal once "one of their own" left Billy Napier's squad for LSU.

Taking on a serious injury, while forced to play piecemeal snaps as he fought his way up the Florida depth chart, Pyburn is now not only viewed as a primal edge rushing specimen at LSU, he's already close friends with roster cornerstones Whit Weeks, Garrett Nussmeier and highly valued 2025 transfer TE Bauer Sharp;

Pyburn is a sight to behold on the field, possessed by a starkraving energy forged through "kick you in the ass" vocal leadership....the kind LSU sorely need.......a mentality cemented during his long mornings rehabbing a torn up knee & chomping at the bit to return.

📸 Jacob Verdin

Before Tamarcus Cooley set it off as a top safety starter for NC State, he admitted he "lived in his car" in a social media post, climbing the mountain from ACC castoff at Maryland to potential LSU starter while facing long odds off the field.

Rated the #2 overall DB in the state when he graduated at Rolesville, North Carolina, Cooley's brother Trevion played at both Louisville and Georgia Tech from 2021 until last fall.

LSU's senior defensive tackle Jacobian Guillory entered last fall as one of the Tigers' most important players.

Looking like the steady, physical anchor LSU was hoping for during the opener vs USC, Guillory suddenly suffered a torn achilles in week 2 vs Nicholls State, throwing his future into temporary uncertainty.

©️ 📸 LSU Sports

Needing a strong senior season to cement his NFL Draft stock, as he also became a father a year ago, the injured Guillory found himself in a tough spot, dealing with a lot of pressure to recover quickly and retake his starting gig up front....not only to protect & bolster his own NFL future, but to provide for his young infant son, Jacobian Jr.

Guillory responded by doubling his recovery time, finding himself back on the practice field before Spring practices ended.

Everything is aligning for Guillory to log a full campaign of critical snaps up front, however, his playing time might be limited over the first few weeks as he returns from such a long layoff & competes against much stronger competition throughout fall camp and the season.

Harold Perkins went from one of college football's most celebrated and gushed over defenders to being labeled as a potential bust following an underwhelming 2023 & injury-curtailed 2024.

Last fall was supposed to be Perkins' money year, the campaign where he would show the world he could play as a traditional linebacker, and still produce moments of turnover-creating, backfield-wrecking brilliance.

Instead, last year was a mini trip through hell for the NOLA-born athletic phenom.

Perkins slogged through 3 listless performances, caught up in the wash, remaining ineffective & unable to impact games before tearing his ACL vs UCLA on an awkward tackling attempt.

📸 Gus Stark

Up against the wall for the first time in his football career, catching doubters or criticism from some corners, nearly everyone involved racked with infuriated frustration & endless debate concerning LSU's inability to find Perkins' best position, all as he was forced to watch on the sidelines...

....it wasn't just alien to Harold, his injury made him thankful....not being able to play football made Perkins "appreciate the game more," his defensive coordinator Blake Baker said to Off the Bench, adding "(the injury) may have been the best thing to happen to him...."

Despite the severity of his red shirt junior's injury, Baker's words are proving prophetic:

Perkins' recovery went ahead of schedule, he is closing in on a June return to full health, while his move to a free role at the star position (or the far better defensive nucleus surrounding him) will only serve to unleash his individual qualities and propel Blake Baker's overall unit....

📸 Gerald Gilbert; ©️ Associated Press

Baker may be right:

If Perkins had been drafted this past April after a below standard season, his position situation still uncertain, who knows where the 1st round talent would've ended up....

Almost 10 months since his torn ACL in front of a stunned Tiger Stadium, Harold Perkins has a chance to finish his LSU career the way it should end: by making history.

Competing for a championship, starring for a top defense, making the awards rounds in December, while simultaneously setting himself up for a stronger NFL future...somehow some way, the adversity Harold faced may have actually made LSU's defensive superstar better.

Even QB Garrett Nussmeier went through heaps of his own trials, forced to watch transfer Jayden Daniels arrive out of nowhere, take the starting job, and become a two year starting juggernaut on his way to a record-shattering Heisman campaign.

Another element was Nussmeier's father, Doug, who coached for the Dallas Cowboys and LA Chargers clear across the country during Nussmeier's Marcus High and early LSU career, unable to be present for moments where Nussmeier shined from the bench, like his freshman outing vs Arkansas, 2nd half vs Georgia in the 2022 SEC Championship Game, or commanding starting debut win over Wisconsin.

Then, when he finally earned his chance to start at LSU, Nussmeier suffered through a gutty, but ultimately fruitless first year as a starter where questions swirled about his readiness, decision making...and his instincts.

But right now, on the edge of summer, only months before his final season begins, Nuss is possessed by even more confidence, has full control of the reins, an upgraded skill position unit of endless weapons around him, coaching continuity under Brian Kelly, Joe Sloan, Brad Davis, Frank Wilson, and Cortez Hankton, and even his Super Bowl-winning father Doug will be coaching in nearby New Orleans, more than capable of witnessing moments throughout his son's final collegiate season.

In many respects, plenty of factors appear to be lining up, heading towards an unforgettable senior year for Nussmeier.

Senior WR Chris Hilton Jr is doing everything in his power to play his first full injury-free season at LSU, taking on a role as a downfield home run hitter....

....but it's been years in the making...or, more aptly written, "years in the waiting" leading up to this moment:

📸 Maria Lysaker

Over the better part of his 4 years at LSU, Hilton was mired in constant injury cycles, surgeries, falling down a loaded depth chart (across 2021-2023) that featured fellow 2021 classmates Malik Nabers & Brian Thomas Jr, and Jack Bech, as well as Lacy, SEC single game receiving record holder Kayshon Boutte, and 2019 National Championship-winning reliable Jaray Jenkins taking snaps and targets ahead of the rusty, injured, or recovering Hilton.

Still battling back from his extended time out, Hilton watched on as Nabers became the program's all time leading receiver, Thomas Jr grabbed 17 receiving touchdowns in a single season (3rd highest ever for a Tiger), as both were drafted inside the 1st Round....

Considering Hilton was ranked higher than both coming out of Zachary High, the events of 2021-2024 had to be tough to swallow, but as Chris revealed during a Spring press conference, he kept the faith:

“I learned that you and God don’t operate on the same clock. I mean, I went from high to low real quick. It wasn’t part of my plan but it was a part of his. Even when I came back, I was so pressed to go out there and try to make plays because that’s who I am. But he still told me 'not just yet'. Then you saw the last two games. I mean really, you just gotta have faith in God...."

Now after 4 false starts, missing the first 8 games of last fall, Hilton Jr kept the faith & ended 2024 catching 4 big play touchdowns, among the Tigers' longest offensive gains of the year, directly helping LSU win against Baylor & Oklahoma.

Following years of doubts, in only a matter of a few weeks, Hilton showed the world he can still be a dangerous aerial weapon for Garrett Nussmeier.

There's WR Nic Anderson, who caught double digit touchdowns, almost 900 yards, and averaged 22 per catch in 2023 at Oklahoma.....then, tore his ACL on the cusp of last fall and missed the entire campaign.

How will that adversity fuel him???

Or what about Whit Weeks now on the precipice of a comeback from his own nasty injury in the final bowl game???

There are many similar stories among these 2025 Tigers, navigating heavy loss as well as defying the odds on a massive public stage....that is the pulse of this squad....a collective identity forged in flame, blazing trails not yet traveled,

As I've tried to illustrate, this team is loaded with examples of Tigers who faced major trials and tribulations over their recent past, riding turbulent waves until their hard work & battle-hardened mentality took them all to this very moment.....standing at the gates of a season that will change their lives....

By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

©️ 2025 Uninterrupted Writings Inc