Why is Myles Brennan walking away from football?

Way back when Ed Orgeron took over the Louisiana State University head coaching job, his first recruiting class was a marker that he intended to bring a national championship back to Baton Rouge. Part of that first recruiting class was a four-star quarterback from St Stanislaus High School in Bay St Louis, Mississippi. In his prep career, he had thrown for 15,138 yards, a Mississippi high school record, adding to the ones that he holds for total offense, with 16,168 yards, and passing touchdowns at 166.

Redshirted in his sophomore year, Myles Brennan waited his turn behind Joe Burrow, as the phenomenal transfer won the Heisman Trophy on the way to bringing that national title back to Louisiana. Taking over the reins after Burrow’s graduation, Brennan suffered an abdominal injury in the third game of the season, seeing him sidelined for the remainder of the season.

Returning for his junior year in 2021, Brennan’s luck got even worse when he saw a freak fishing accident break his arm. Out for that season, he considered transferring when coach Orgeron was replaced by Brian Kelly, but the new coach personally reached out to Brennan and persuaded him to return to LSU for his senior year.

One of the major reasons for Ed Orgeron’s departure from LSU was the instability at the quarterback role, with an heir to Burrow not readily apparent. When Brennan went down in 2020, the Tigers tried out freshman Max Johnson at the position only to lose him in the transfer portal to Texas A&M.

With the arrival of Coach Kelly, there began a competition for the starting role between Brennan, Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels, and sophomore Garrett Nussmeier. With rumors that the starting role would likely be given to Daniels, Brennan decided that enough was enough and announced that he is walking away from football.

“I am forever grateful for every opportunity I’ve been given, every obstacle I’ve overcome, and every second I’ve been a Tiger,” said Brennan in a released statement. “However, after five seasons, it is time for me to start a new chapter in my life.”

Coach Brian Kelly released a statement in response, saying, “We are grateful to Myles for everything he has done for LSU Football. Myles is a great leader who has made a tremendous impact on this program, and he has earned the respect of everyone here through his commitment and love for LSU. Myles has always embodied the traits required to fulfill our mission to graduate champions, and we have full confidence those traits will help him succeed at every step in his journey as he moves forward.”

Brian Kelly said that it was a difficult decision to sign Jayden Daniels but that “it was about upgrading the competition on this roster across the board.”

Daniels threw for 6,025 yards and 32 touchdowns in three seasons as a starter for Arizona State, and brings experience to the table, while Nussmeier is perhaps the more naturally talented player, but prone to rookie mistakes. In the LSU spring game, all three quarterbacks took equal reps and all three threw touchdown passes.

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Interestingly, LSU quarterbacks coach Mike Denbrock denies that the Tigers have named a stater yet, saying, “We’re not... anywhere close to that, but those decisions will be made by Coach Kelly, obviously, when that cutoff happens.”

With Brennan’s retirement, the Tigers will have to decide soon which direction they are going to go, with their opening game in just over three weeks agains the Florida State Seminoles, Coach Kelly better make his mind up quickly.