BATON ROUGE — LSU's projected starting quarterback Myles Brennan has been given directions so simple he could write them on his wrist band. And he has skinny wrists.
"Eat stupid. Play smart."
If he does both well, he will be LSU's fatter and happy quarterback for two or three seasons.
Right now, though, he is a reed-thin, 6-foot-4 and 195 pounds on a strict, all-you-can-eat "diet." If his playbook had 1,000 calories and tasted good, he'd eat that.
His daily plan basically reads like this — "Down, ready, set ... EAT! EAT!"
"I'm on an insane meal plan," Brennan said in between bites and snaps Tuesday at the LSU football facility in an interview that has been much harder to get than, say, Emeril Lagasse.
"I come here early in the mornings and get two or three breakfast sandwiches and drink a shake," he said. "Then I'm eating probably six or seven meals a day. It is rough. I'm having to force food in my body that it obviously doesn't want to take in because I'm not used to it."
He's downing several thousand calories a day, but he is progressing. He reported to LSU at 179 pounds in June of 2017, and his original meal plan had him setting the alarm for 2 a.m. so he could binge eat. He is up to 195 now with 20 more to go by the start of the 2018 season when LSU hosts Miami on Sept. 2 in Arlington, Texas.
"Putting on weight is a big goal for me," he said.
In other words, he is trying to do the exact opposite of fellow 2017 signee Tyler Shelvin, a nose tackle from Lafayette who is trying to lose 20 or so pounds from the high 350s to the low 330s. Should they room together?
It's a good thing for Brennan, but not so much for Shelvin, that the NCAA in 2014 allowed for a variety of snacks to be available for free in addition to stipends of spending money it approved in 2015. This allows Brennan to get his mandatory midnight snacks and then some.
Any diet expert — those advising on how to lose weight — will tell you not to eat late at night and to stay away from fried foods. Brennan basically orders a double.
"It really differs," Brennan said of his late-night snacks at about 10:30 p.m. before bed.
"I have the luxury of not being picky on what I eat because I need to eat whatever I can, whether it's Raising Cane's (fried chicken) or a pizza," he said. "I try to stay healthy, but at this point there's no point in trying to stay healthy. I just need to gain the weight."
And though he is practicing two or three times a week during spring drills, it is hard to make the food stick.
Once spring practice ends, though, with the spring game on April 21, Brennan can more frequently frequent New Orleans for the famous fine dining restaurants of the Brennan family dynasty, such as Brennan's, Commander's Palace, Mr. B's, Ralph's on the Park and many others.
Brennan's great aunt is Ella Brennan, the 92-year-old family matriarch who runs Commander's Palace and who was featured in the 2016 award-winning independent film, "Ella Brennan — Commanding the Table." She produced such chefs as Paul Prudhomme and Lagasse at her restaurant.
Brennan said the "Filet Stanley" at Brennan's is his favorite. It is seared filet mignon served with two sauces, a demi-glace with red wine and mushrooms, a creamy horseradish sauce and finished with two baked banana halves.
"I eat at Brennan's a lot," he said. "I do. Good food. Obviously, that helps. Where I need to work is keeping it on."
The bread pudding at Commander's will help there, but he might have to say hold the bourbon.
"Definitely, in this off-season, I'll get the weight up there," he said. "My body is so young. It hasn't matured yet. But I am capable of doing it, so I will do it. It's just part of it. Putting on weight is a big goal for me."
The other part is playing smarter than he did last season when he threw two interceptions in just 24 attempts. His interception early in the fourth quarter after he drove LSU to the Troy 37-yard line while down 17-7 led to Troy taking a 24-7 lead. Regular quarterback Danny Etling proceeded to throw two touchdown passes, but it was too late and the Tigers lost 24-21 to the 20-point underdog Trojans in one of LSU's worst upset defeats in history.
After beating out quarterbacks Lowell Narcisse and Justin McMillan last August, Brennan played in six games in all in 2017 as Etling's backup. He was 14 of 24 for 182 yards and one touchdown for a passing efficiency of 119.1. He hopes to learn from the examples of Etling, whose 153.0 efficiency rating finished No. 13 in the nation and No. 3 in the Southeastern Conference as he completed 165 of 275 passes for 2,463 yards and 16 touchdowns with the same number of interceptions as Brennan. No LSU quarterback has been better since 2013 when Zach Mettenberger had a 171.4 efficiency rating on 192-of-296 passing for 22 touchdowns and 3,082 yards with eight interceptions.
"He was smart with the ball," Brennan said of Etling. "He only had — I don't know — what was it, two interceptions? And he took what the defense gave him. That was the biggest thing, especially at this level. Being a quarterback is just taking what they give you and being smart with the ball."
As a senior at St. Stanislaus High in Long Beach, Mississippi, Brennan completed 275 of 399 passes for 3,982 yards and 48 touchdowns with just three interceptions.
"The speed of the game changed a lot," he said. "In high school, you could fit a throw in a window, and now maybe you can't fit that window. There's a lot to learn — a lot to improve on. I feel like the biggest thing is not forcing throws. If they're going to give you the intermediate, take it. You don't need to hit the home run shot every play. Erase the bad plays and live for the next down."
Brennan says the experience of last season has helped him.
"I think it was very important just to go in there and get those butterflies out of the way," he said. "It's a completely different stage in high school. But at the end of the day, it's just a game. It's the same field, and I'm just doing what I've done my whole life."
In many ways, though, Brennan lost a year because his offensive coordinator last year — Matt Canada — was fired after the season, and he had to start over this spring with new offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger and a new offense.
"It did change," he said. "We've taken out the motions and shifts (of Canada). Other than that, it's an offense that Coach O can explain. Coach Canada was a really good coach. Now, that he's moved on, I love Coach Ensminger. He's a very positive guy. He doesn't like to harp on the negative things, but we have to talk about it because that's how we learn. He's always upbeat, and it brings a lot of energy to the table. And he's a very good coach. And he's played the position, which helps out a lot."
Orgeron said Brennan started off slow during spring drills.
"I feel like that was trying to learn a new offense," Brennan said. "Once I got the hang of Coach Canada's offense, I was all right. And in the spring, we had to install a new offense again. It just takes a lot of studying, a lot of preparation. But I feel like I've been doing well."
He has been very consistent over his last several practices, Orgeron said. According to Orgeron's statistics from the last two closed scrimmages, Brennan is outperforming McMillan and Narcisse. Brennan is 22 of 31 for 317 yards and three touchdowns with an interception, while McMillan is 10 of 25 for 189 yards with two touchdowns and Narcisse is just 9 of 25 for 103 yards.
"It's been good," Brennan said. "I feel like I've learned a lot. The coaching staff has done a great job of putting the information in our hands. I feel like I've gotten a lot more comfortable. I'm just getting better every day and excited for this year. Playing a few games in Tiger Stadium on this level helped. I can take a deep breath and relax."
That is, until it's time to eat again.
"I basically get to the point where I'm about to throw up," he said. "I mean, it's tough. But it's going to pay off."
