LSU football had the perfect succession plan.
Whether redshirt junior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier would return to the Tigers in 2025 or not, LSU had the ideal man to replace him when he left for the NFL.
Five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 overall player in the Class of 2025, appeared to be the perfect bridge to usher the LSU offense into a new era.
But with Underwood flipping his commitment to Michigan less than two weeks before the early signing period that opens Dec. 4, the Tigers are now left in a less comfortable spot when it comes to the future of the position.
“At the end day, we want people that want to be here,” Nussmeier said Saturday, “that want to come play for coach (Brian) Kelly, that want to come play for LSU, want to rep(resent) the purple and gold. (They) actually care about the three letters (and) that actually it means something to them.”
Underwood would have been the first high school quarterback to arrive on campus as the No. 1 overall player in the nation. Instead, LSU is left searching for its next star at the position, even if Nussmeier returns.
Kelly said during his radio show Monday that he is “hopeful” Nussmeier will come back to LSU next season.
“I think we’ll always look at taking a quarterback each year, and we’ll most likely take a quarterback again this year,” Kelly said Monday.
Deciphering which quarterbacks will be in the transfer portal this winter is a difficult task, especially prior to the start of December. But it’s an avenue Kelly didn’t close the door on when he spoke with the media Monday.
LSU still could add a quarterback from the 2025 class. However, 39 of the top 40 quarterbacks in the Class of 2025 have made their pledges to other schools, according to the 247Sports Composite.
“We look at the calendar year a little bit differently than just December. We have a February signing period, we have a transfer portal,” Kelly said, “so we’ll continue to look at that and see how that best fits our roster.”
The Tigers already have four scholarship quarterbacks on their roster, including Nussmeier, redshirt freshman Rickie Collins, junior AJ Swann and freshman Colin Hurley. Swann transferred to LSU from Vanderbilt last offseason, while Collins and Hurley were four-star signees.
A developmental leap from any of the three could put them in position to become LSU’s next starting quarterback. But if that doesn’t occur, and if Nussmeier decides to leave for the NFL this offseason, the Tigers will have no choice but to enter the portal for a new signal caller.
LSU wasn’t aggressive in the portal last offseason, but Kelly said that would change this winter, especially with the imminent arrival of revenue sharing across college football — which Kelly believes will start this summer — and Underwood no longer putting a dent in its NIL budget.
LSU offered Underwood $1.5 million annually in NIL money, sources familiar with the deal told The Advocate. CBS Sports reported earlier in November that Michigan offered Underwood an NIL deal worth around $10 million total.
“We’ve really put ourselves in a position, and I’ll use this term loosely, to stay well under the cap, so we could be quite aggressive this year,” Kelly said.
When it comes to the rest of the LSU roster, Kelly noted that “the overall roster is much more important than one particular position.” He has a point; the Tigers have personnel questions outside of just quarterback for 2025 and beyond.
Even without Underwood, the rest of the LSU class addresses many of those potential deficiencies on the roster. The Tigers have commitments at every position except for quarterback and specialists.
But quarterback is the most important position in sports for a reason. Nussmeier returning to LSU for a fifth season doesn’t change the reality that the Tigers will need to find the next man in line sooner rather than later.
“If it ends up being that we do take a quarterback, that’s great,” Kelly said. “But I think our eye is on the strength of the entire roster.”
Staff writer Wilson Alexander contributed to this report.
