2025 SEC Media Days takeaways: LSU eyes opening statement against Clemson, Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia impresses

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LSU coach Brian Kelly understands the expectations that come with coaching at LSU. After all, the last three men to hold his job all led the Tigers to national titles. Heading into Year 4 at the program, Kelly is driving home a playoff-or-bust mindset this fall for a team that exhausted resources to build a complete roster.

Kelly has more victories than any other active coach in college football, but none of that matters if the Tigers fail to conquer a loaded slate, beginning with mass improvements on defense. Blake Baker’s first campaign as defensive coordinator last season was a notch better than 2023, but that’s not saying much when that unit was one of the worst in program history.

“We needed to give him more tools,” Kelly said. “I know we haven’t played the kind of defense necessary to win a national championship. We’ve given Blake, now, the tools, to play championship-level defense. Clearly, the 2023 offensive football team we had was good enough to win the national championship, but we weren’t good enough as a team. 

“A lot of that was addressing the shortcoming we had on defense. I love our seriousness and focus and intent. Anytime you go on the road and play a team like Clemson (in the opener), you better bring a defense with you.”

Kelly is 0-3 in openers at LSU and the Tigers haven’t won their first game to start a season since last winning a national title in 2019. Clemson is currently a three-point favorite to win the opener, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. 

Headlining LSU’s top-ranked transfer portal class were instant-impact defenders Jack Plyburn (Florida EDGE), A.J. Haulcy (Houston safety), Patrick Payton (Florida State EDGE) and Sydir Mitchell (Texas nose tackle), among others.

Monday’s spotlight also shone brightly on Tigers quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who many have tabbed as potentially the top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. LSU offensive coordinator Joe Sloan has raved about his development this offseason, bringing many to compare Nussmeier’s ceiling to former Heisman winner Jayden Daniels.

“He wants to lead our football team to a championship and if the Heisman follows that, I think he’s good with that,” Kelly said. “Our conversations with him aren’t about individual goals, they’re about how he can lead this football team to a championship. His selfishness 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.”

Nussmeier threw for 4,052 yards last season with 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his first year as LSU’s starter. He played behind one of the SEC’s top offensive lines, a unit that will replace four starters this fall including No. 4 overall pick Will Campbell.

Kelly kicked off the team portion of SEC Media Days as the first of four coaches to take the podium. Here’s a look at the highlights from Day 1 of the four-day event in Atlanta. 

Gamecocks not expecting letdown

A near-unanimous top-20 team this summer, South Carolina is on everyone’s radar ahead of Shane Beamer’s fifth season with the program. That marks a stark contrast from a year ago, when the Gamecocks entered the season following a disappointing finish and with a first-year starting quarterback in LaNorris Sellers, along with several unknowns on defense.

“For us, we didn’t pay attention to it (last year) and we don’t need to be listening to it right now,” Beamer told ESPN Monday. “There’s teams last year that all summer long were getting built up and went out in Week 1, got smacked in the face and never recovered. What it gets down to is preparing and playing good football on Saturdays.”

Beamer may not want his team listening to the noise, but he would like to his defense play with more of a chip on its shoulder. The Gamecocks lost a lot of talent off last year’s stellar group, which has clearly bothered Beamer. South Carolina must replace six starters on defense, including the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and three other NFL Draft picks.

The Gamecocks return just 49% of their defensive production from a unit that allowed 18.1 points per game (fifth in the SEC) and 317 yards per game (fourth in the SEC) last season.

“Those guys are gone, but we’ve recruited well,” Beamer said. “In the secondary, we’re fortunate we bring back the bulk. We lose (Kyle) Kennard, but we’re fortunate we bring back the best edge rusher, in my opinion, in the country with Dylan Stewart. We’ve got to be good around him. Overall, it’s a young defense, but we have size, we have speed and we have the things that you’re looking for. We’ve got some talented guys I think are eager to take the next step.”

Lane Kiffin calm, collected and appreciative

Ole Miss is lucky to have Kiffin and the feeling’s mutual from the sixth-year coach. Coming off his third season with a top-15 finish with the Rebels, Kiffin shared a great deal of gratitude he has for Ole Miss and acknowledged how much it means to him that the rest of his family has since moved to Oxford during the offseason.

“It’s been an amazing experience,” Kiffin said. “I don’t give you coach-speak. 

“You lose your parents and you see how (The people of Oxford) helped take care of them at the end and cared about them. It opened my eyes in a completely different way. I owe so much to Oxford and the people there.”

Earlier this month, Kiffin took a swing at Auburn coach Hugh Freeze and his golf game as the internet went nuts over his time on the course this summer. With Auburn’s recruiting woes continuing for 2026, Kiffin was asked about his social media activity and directing what appeared to be playful barbs at Freeze.

One included tagging Freeze’s handle on “X” in a video Sunday from the back of his fishing boat, a clever knock on recruiting.

“It had nothing to do with his golf game, which sounds like he is doing amazing at that,” Kiffin quipped Monday.

The “Diego Pavia Speaking Tour” continues as the program’s star quarterback donned a custom tuxedo with a bow tie inside the College Football Hall of Fame, stopping for photos and radio hits every few steps. Granted another year of eligibility after winning a court battle against the NCAA this offseason, Pavia is back with goals much higher than simply reaching bowl eligibility.

For a player who didn’t receive an FBS scholarship offer coming out of high school, Pavia’s success is part of what makes college football great. Instrumental in the Commodores’ resurgence last fall, Pavia finished with just over 3,000 yards of total offense and 28 touchdowns.

Pavia was a relative unknown prior to his coming out party against Alabama. Vanderbilt upended the Crimson Tide for the program’s first win in school history over a top-ranked team.

“I came back to finish something that we started and that’s to win a national championship,” Pavia said Monday on 106.3 The Game.

Pavia and the Commodores beat Auburn on the road last fall, a victory that pushed Vanderbilt to bowl eligibility. Pavia doesn’t look back at the wins, however.

“Every loss I blame on myself when I go home at night, Texas was a big one — two interceptions on tipped balls was big,” Pavia said, acknowledging the 27-24 setback to an eventual playoff team. “Georgia State, we lost in the last 10 seconds. And then Missouri, we lost in double overtime. We win those three games and we’re in the playoffs.”

Pavia’s first win over Auburn came when he was still at New Mexico State in 2023, which caught the eye of Commodores coach Clark Lea.

“I’ve believed in myself since the beginning, I (always) believed I could play in the SEC,” Pavia said. “That game was a good one. We got a lot of players from New Mexico State who are playing on Vanderbilt right now and I’m super-excited for those guys.”

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