BATON ROUGE - Brian Kelly and his 2024 Tiger football team got their preseason practices started on Thursday morning on the right foot according to the head coach. 

Kelly was pleased with his teams ability to handle the opening round of work and is excited about the prospects for this upcoming season.

"The work that you do in the offseason and all the preparation and you know, to watch your process take place over a period of time is what excites me. It's the development of your team and what they look like and how they handle themselves," Kelly said after the first workout session.

A pair of freshmen stood out in their performances on day one as defensive tackle Dominick McKinley from Acadiana and tight end/wide receiver Trey'Dez Green from Zachary really impressed in limited time. 

McKinley is a big youngster who can help a thin defensive line early and Green is an imposing 6-7 target that flashed all over the field in the first practice.

As a whole, this LSU Tiger football team has a number of returning players who are looking to elevate their game and show they are an improved version from a season ago.

"I've told this story many times my first camp and your one I had guys taking their helmets off in front of them and each other. You know it was total bedlam. You know, and now we're at that point where, you know, they don't take their helmets off even your your they know you're not supposed to take their helmets off for water breaks. And so it's just that development of your team to the eye that you have and what for your team. And then having like a guy like Matt Mauck come up to you and say, coach, that was impressive for day one, in terms of the way your guys looked. I was really impressed and that's, you know, you know, he's being honest with him. He's not going to blow smoke and so you know, just seeing the development of your team is kind of what's exciting more than anything else," Kelly said of the progress his team has made in three years.