The recruiting trail can be brutal for a head coach or a program, as you can only control so much, and the rest is left up to the player. For Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers while they've had a ton of success on the recruiting trail for the most part, the Tigers have fallen short in recruiting quarterbacks as of late.
During the 2025 recruiting cycle, Brian Kelly and his staff seemingly struck gold, landing a commitment from the Nation's top recruit Bryce Underwood. Having Underwood on board gave LSU a clear blueprint for the next three seasons as the Tigers seemingly were getting a superstar. Having Bryce Underwood had one clear flaw as most of the 2026 cycles quarterbacks stopped considering LSU as they'd have to sit behind him for 2 seasons.
That flaw would eventually haunt LSU as Bryce Underwood flipped right before National Signing Day which left the Tigers without a quarterback in the 2025 recruiting class. Once Brian Kelly and his staff started to reach out to new 2026 quarterbacks, they started to see that most of the players were set in their decisions.
The Tigers reached out to several of the elite signal callers like Dia Bell, Faizon Brandon, and Jonas Williams, but had no success pulling off a flip. Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach Joe Sloan found his next big target however in Celina, Texas star Bowe Bentley.
Despite Oklahoma being perceived as the heavy favorite to land Bowe Bentley, the Tigers battled their way into the recruitment becoming one of his two finalists. After hosting Bowe Bentley on an official visit it became time to wait and on Friday Night, Bentley announced his decision picking the Sooners.
🚨BREAKING🚨 Elite QB Bowe Bentley has committed to Oklahoma, per @Hayesfawcett3⭕️
— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) June 20, 2025
Bentley is the No. 5 quarterback in the On300.
More from @SWiltfong_: https://t.co/ifQtYQ2CxS pic.twitter.com/6WmcoK5uzR
Brian Kelly and his staff now have no clear answer to turn to if they're going to land a quarterback in this class as Bentley felt like the last player the Tigers truly had a great shot at signing. The Tigers aren't totally in trouble for the future as they added Mississippi State freshman Michael Van Buren via the transfer portal this offseason and Redshirt Freshman Colin Hurley was another top recruit they signed.
The struggles for the LSU Tigers are hard to understand as they've recently produced a pair of Heismans in Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels, while Garrett Nussmeier could be a third. The Tigers will eventually find their next commit and whoever decides to jump on board will have a chance to be a special player as LSU always has elite wide receivers and a solid offensive line.