New LSU quarterback knows the bar is raised in Year 3 of Brian Kelly era

Brian Kelly has been relatively successful in his first two seasons as LSU's head football coach. Of course, the Tigers didn't bring him in to be "relatively successful." 

Kelly's Tigers went 10-4 in Year 1 with a Citrus Bowl win and 10-3 in Year 2 with a win in the ReliaQuest Bowl. For most universities, that's great success. At LSU, though, the expectation is national championships. 

Nw starting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier has been clear that a "nice" 10-win season is just enough for this team.

“I think if you asked any of us that we’ll tell you, we don’t believe that’s the standard anymore, Nussmeier recently told the media (h/t On3). “You know, going into year three in this system and not even on the field, but off the field and how we do things on a daily basis, how we act, how we move around this building, how we do things outside of this building, it’s all changed."

What does that change mean?

Well for one, that means there's pressure on Nussmeier. He's already the heir apparent to Jayden Daniels, who won the Heisman Trophy last season. Now he's putting pressure on himself and his team to win more games in 2024.

"We hold ourselves to the standards where we believe like I said, 10 wins is not enough anymore," he continued. "Now, I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Hey, we have to win a national championship.’ That’s not how we think but it’s about the little things. It’s about doing little things the right way. And that leads to a championship culture.”

It may not be "championship-or-bust" season just yet in Baton Rouge, but without a doubt, Kelly's team needs to put itself back into that conversation.