Garrett Nussmeier explains why he stayed with LSU football, not enter transfer portal
BATON ROUGE — LSU football backup quarterback Garrett Nussmeier had every opportunity to leave Baton Rouge for a starting job this past offseason.
Nussmeier threw for 294 yards and two touchdowns in relief of injured starter Jayden Daniels in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia, the eventual national champion. And then to end the season, he threw for another 173 yards and two touchdowns in LSU's bowl game win over Purdue.
Both performances were more than enough to prove that he could be a quality starting quarterback at nearly any school in the country. But, instead of chasing a No. 1 job somewhere else, Nussmeier decided to stay at LSU — even if it meant having to sit behind Daniels for another season.
"It matters to me to wear the state on my jersey and to have LSU on my helmet," Nussmeier said when asked about his decision to stay at LSU on Tuesday. "It means something to me. I think it means something to a lot of guys on our team. But you know, I was born in Lake Charles, all my family is in Lake Charles, that's my home.
"Being a kid who moved around so much, Louisiana was the only constant place in my life."
Nussmeier also said that coming back "wasn't that hard of a decision" for him and that his concentration was always to "focus on the situation that I'm in," at LSU instead of exploring any options elsewhere.
With Daniels departing after this season, Nussmeier staying allows him to become LSU's likely starter at quarterback in 2024.
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"Everybody knew that (Nussmeier) was a priority in terms of our program moving forward, because Jayden had one (year) and he's got three, so you can do the math there," Kelly said to The Athletic at the Houston Touchdown Club on May 2. "When you can keep your program intact for three more years at the quarterback position without having to play a freshman, that's stability that's quite uncommon in college football today."
Instead of Nussmeier departing, LSU lost former St. Thomas More star and four-star recruit Walker Howard to the transfer portal, as he left for Ole Miss over the offseason. The Tigers replaced him by adding four-star recruit and Woodlawn High School star Rickie Collins.
Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU football: Garrett Nussmeier on why he didn't enter transfer portal
