BATON ROUGE - LSU head coach Brian Kelly spent a good portion of his game week presser talking about the preparation that has been put in to get to this point where his Tigers will open their season against Clemson in South Carolina later this week.

Kelly and Tiger fans everywhere are hoping that it's more than preparation, that this year it will translate into execution because there are plenty expectations on this team as the Tigers are looking to get back into the college football playoffs.

"We’ve been working on this since January, after our Baylor win in the bowl game, we went to work on our roster, our process in developing this football team," Kelly said of the laborious effort to get to this point.

"When we get to these moments it's (about) having a team that is confident, that plays the game the right way in a hostile environment, and you would say composure, maturity, and they've got to play with with great competitiveness. Each and every play is going to be important for us. So you know, when you're putting together the DNA of a football team, it's not just about talent acquisition, it's making sure that you have the pieces necessary to compete in those moments, right when there's a turnover, when there's sudden change, when momentum is not going your way, what's the makeup of your team?"

Kelly and his coaching staff went to work in the transfer portal to build a roster that filled in the numerous holes they had after the 2024 season.  Positions like offensive line, defensive line and defensive secondary were rebuilt with experienced players from other schools rosters.

"I like the makeup, but I want to have this conversation with you after the game, that we competed the right way, right that our composure was amazing, and we played with great confidence. That's the post game remarks that we want, but that's why we play the game," Kelly said referencing previous season openers where they didn't get the results on the field or the scoreboard that they might have wanted.

LSU opens the season at Clemson on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. in a game broadcast on WBRZ.