LSU Quarterback Myles Brennan Loses Job, Now Is Leaving College Football

BATON ROUGE — LSU quarterback Myles Brennan, who was once expected to be the heir apparent to Joe Burrow, has decided to leave football after falling in the quarterback race here, multiple sources confirmed to OutKick.

Brennan, 23 and a sixth-year senior, was not at practice Monday and had been told recently that he was no longer No. 1 on the depth chart.

Arizona State junior transfer Jayden Daniels is the new No. 1 quarterback with redshirt freshman Garrett Nussmeier a close second. Five-star signee Walker Howard is considered the No. 3 quarterback with plans to be red-shirted.

"We are grateful to Myles for everything he has done for LSU football," LSU coach Brian Kelly said in a release after the story broke. "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 BRENNAN TAKES NIL MONEY & QUITS COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Brennan is the last player remnant of the Les Miles era at LSU. He came to the Tigers for the class of 2017 under Coach Ed Orgeron, but he had committed to Miles in April of 2016 as the No. 12 pro style quarterback in the nation and No. 212 overall prospect out of St. Stanislaus High in Mississippi.

Miles was fired four games into the 2016 season and replaced by Orgeron. Brennan lost the starting job in 2017 to veteran Danny Etling and then to Burrow, a transfer from Ohio State, before the 2018 season.

Burrow took LSU to the national championship and won the Heisman Trophy in 2019 with Brennan as his backup.

Brennan won the starting job in 2020, but tore his abdomen in his third start and missed the rest of the season. Though LSU was 1-2 with him as a starter, Brennan got off to a great start before the injury. He was No. 7 in the nation in passing efficiency through three games at 154.7 on 79-of-131 passing for 1,112 yards and 11 touchdowns against three interceptions.

His only other game out of 20 in his career that wasn't mop-up duty was against Troy in 2017. Brennan replaced Etling and completed 4 of 7 passes for 68 yards with a 7-yard touchdown.

But he threw a critical interception in the Tigers' upset, 24-21 loss to the 20-point underdogs. Etling threw two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough.

Just before the start of practice for the 2021 season, Brennan hurt his shoulder boarding a boat to go fishing and missed all of that year, too. Max Johnson was expected to beat him out in 2021 anyway, though. Kelly replaced Orgeron after the 2021 regular season.

Daniels, a veteran starter at Arizona State, beat out Brennan in August practices and was much more mobile.

Brennan was also believed to be behind Nussmeier on the depth chart because of mobility issues.

Brennan entered the NCAA transfer portal after the 2021 season, but got few tugs on the line before Kelly - desperate for depth - asked him back. Later, Kelly signed Daniels.

Last May, Brennan graduated from LSU in sports administration.

"Myles has always embodied the traits required to fulfill our mission to graduate champions," Kelly said. "And we have full confidence those traits will help him succeed at every step in his journey as he moves forward."


Don't @ Me: Myles Brennan Takes NIL Money & Quits College Football

Making this a not-for-performance deal is absurd, stupid, naive, pandering, and ridiculous. 

Written by
Guilbeau joined OutKick as an SEC columnist in September of 2021 after covering LSU and the Saints for 17 years at USA TODAY Louisiana. He has been a national columnist/feature writer since the summer of 2022, covering college football, basketball and baseball with some NFL, NBA, MLB, TV and Movies and general assignment, including hot dog taste tests. A New Orleans native and Mizzou graduate, he has consistently won Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) awards since covering Alabama and Auburn at the Mobile Press-Register (1993-98) and LSU and the Saints at the Baton Rouge Advocate (1998-2004). In 2021, Guilbeau won an FWAA 1st for a game feature, placed in APSE Beat Writing, Breaking News and Explanatory, and won Beat Writer of the Year from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA). He won an FWAA columnist 1st in 2017 and was FWAA's top overall winner in 2016 with 1st in game story, 2nd in columns, and features honorable mention. Guilbeau completed a book in 2022 about LSU's five-time national champion coach - "Everything Matters In Baseball: The Skip Bertman Story" - that is available at www.acadianhouse.com, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble outlets. He lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, the former Michelle Millhollon of Thibodaux who previously covered politics for the Baton Rouge Advocate and is a communications director.