It’s been a tough week down in Baton Rouge. Brian Kelly and LSU just got hit with a one-two punch behind the scenes. First it was Jordan Arcement dealing a blow to the Tigers’ support staff. With his background in NIL and recruiting, he was one of the brains behind the program’s recruiting success over the years. But per On3’s Pete Nakos’ report, he’s taking his next stop to powerhouse agency firm Athletes. And now, it’s another big-time staffer who’s about to leave LSU hanging.
Brian Kelly should be glad his staffer is NFL bound, but there’s always this problem of filling the gap. On June 11, CBSSports Matt Zenitz broke the news on Instagram. “The Philadelphia Eagles are expected to hire LSU director of personnel Preston Tiffany.” “Before LSU, Tiffany — who has been one of the rising stars in the college personnel world — was director of player personnel at Ole Miss,” he added in the caption. And with his wealth of experience, this is no less than a huge blow for LSU who’s just beginning to find recruiting momentum.
Preston Tiffany had only been with LSU since February 2024. But his reputation in the college personnel game was already elite. From a student assistant at South Carolina to earning an MBA from Ole Miss, his trajectory has been nothing short of vertical. Before joining Brian Kelly’s squad, he helped engineer Ole Miss’s best season ever with 11 wins, a Peach Bowl win over Penn State, and a No. 9 national finish in 2023.
While the Eagles haven’t confirmed his title yet, expect Preston Tiffany to land somewhere significant with his experience. Maybe the scouting staff or the football operations department. And even Jordan Arcement was no small fish at LSU. He joined the program in 2022 as a recruiting specialist and climbed from directing recruiting communication and external relations to taking over as director of player development. Before his time in Baton Rouge, he had a stint at Virginia and played football at Nicholls. That’s two elite staffers gone. But let’s not hit the panic button yet.
Brian Kelly still has momentum in 2025
Garrett Nussmeier is returning to LSU for a final college football run with playoff expectations. On top of that, Brian Kelly made sure to build the necessary support system around him. “They did a really good job finally getting serious in the portal to put weapons around him,” an anonymous coach told Athlon Sports. “The big talk here is the way they’ve restructured. This isn’t an autonomous coaching culture anymore. [GM] Austin Thomas has a huge role building the roster, and it showed this offseason.”
LSU holds the No. 1 transfer portal class in the 2025 cycle. This is a dramatic flip from last year when Brian Kelly downplayed their spending. But after a lesson well learned, the Tigers are now shelling out and stacking talent. landing studs like Nic Anderson, Barion Brown, and Mansoor Delane. “They have playoff expectations here. And it’s a better depth chart than he’s had in Baton Rouge. If they aren’t in the CFP, I think there’s some serious pressure here,” the coach added.
It all starts with Week 1 against Clemson. And Brian Kelly’s marking it down in his calendar. Because the pressure is that high.
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