SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS

July 23, 2026

Whit Weeks

LSU Tigers

Press Conference

Q. Team goals are obviously at the top of where you want to be. What individual goals will you aspire to meet to get to those team goals?

WHIT WEEKS: My individual goals, I have a couple of them, but the one that I'll share with you is the thing that I love about football is the brotherhood that comes with it. And one of my goals is to make friends, make brothers that I'll have for a lifetime. And that takes place every single day outside the facility when you're hanging out with your boys after a workout, after a practice. So that's something that I like to do.

Q. You just mentioned brotherhood. You had the opportunity to make LSU history and play with both of your brothers. What did that mean to you, and how are you planning on continuing that legacy this year with your younger brother?

WHIT WEEKS: It meant everything to me. That was such a special moment for me and my family when me and my two brothers were able to get out there on the field last year. That's a moment that I'll cherish for the rest of my life.

And being the middle brother, West was always kind of the guy who I would look up to and see what he was doing, and I do the exact same thing. And now I'm in that role for Zach. So I realize that everything I do, he's going to be watching. I want him to be the best one out of all three of us. So I try to set a good example for him.

Q. We know that you're close with Coach Baker, but I want to know more about Chris Kiffin. You obviously know lane on a different level aside from the head coach. But kind of the comparison of the two, how are they? What have you learned from Chris?

WHIT WEEKS: Chris is awesome. Coach Kiffin is awesome. I've learned so much football from him, just the technical pieces of the game. My footwork, he's helped me a lot with my footwork and my pass drop. So he's helped me a lot for sure.

Q. What is it like working with TJ? And how is that working out there?

WHIT WEEKS: I love playing besides TJ. Me being hurt during the spring, I kind of got to sit back and watch him and kind of learn how he plays and pick his brain and see the football he plays.

He's a tremendous athlete, loves to hit. He brings energy every single snap. That's a guy who I want to play with.

We've gotten real close off the field as well. So it's fun just having good people around you, for sure.

Q. Coach has talked a bit about Ty Benefield this spring. What do you see from him? How big of an impact you think he can make for this defense this year?

WHIT WEEKS: Huge. He's an amazing athlete. And if I call right now, I think he's gonna be a first-round draft pick. The way that he goes about his business, he's up there every single morning at 5:30, catching jugs, never skips a day. Him and Tamarcus Cooley.

And then his football mind, he plays right behind me and he'll call out the routes before it even happens. So he's so smart back there, and he's able to make all of our checks because we do have a lot of checks that's on the safeties to make, and he's able to do that.

Q. I've watched you go from sideline to sideline from year to year and be a defensive powerhouse on our team. How does TJ coming in, how does the dynamics and the relationship that y'all are building, and is there any power struggle in the locker room over the leadership?

WHIT WEEKS: No, no power struggle at all. I feel like me and him have a very similar mindset and playing style. We complement each other very well. We're both sideline-to-sideline players. So I can't wait for this fall and for camp just to get out there and really play some live-action football with him because it's going to be a lot of fun.

Q. Lane Kiffin used to just be your girlfriend's father but now he's also your head coach. How has that affected your relationship with him on and off the field this year?

WHIT WEEKS: It hasn't affected my relationship with him at all. I know that when we go in that building, everyone in our building has the same mindset and the same goals. When you're in that building you're there for work, and we like to have a lot of fun up there, too. But at the end of the day it's work.

Then whenever we leave it's cool he's my girlfriend's dad. At the end of the day, it is what it is when we're outside the building, just hanging out, cutting up, like it's cool. It doesn't affect anything in the football building.

Q. With Coach Kiffin being an offensive-minded head coach, what type of advantage do you feel it brings to you and the defense being able to go against him and his system every week?

WHIT WEEKS: It's a huge advantage. If you look forward to our schedule, we play four of the fastest offenses in the country, outside of our own offense. It's tough playing tempo teams. We get to see that every single day at practice. And at practice you don't have refs spotting the ball so it goes even faster than a game. That only will help us.

Q. There's been a lot of talk on the outside about what success looks like for this program next season. What would you say the inside of that is? What do you guys think success looks like for you?

WHIT WEEKS: Defensively, I want to bring back that nasty mentality to an LSU defense. I think we've lacked that in my first three years here. I truly do. I take that personally on myself. I want to bring back that nasty defense.

When teams turn on the tape, they're like, holy cow, we've got to go play these dudes on Saturday. They know they're in for one when they're coming down to Baton Rouge. So that's ultimately one of my goals is to bring back that nasty mentality to an LSU defense.

Q. You had some injuries unfortunately in the spring and the offseason at defensive end and in the cornerback room. Who are some guys that really rose to the occasion and a-certified themselves there?

WHIT WEEKS: PJ Woodland. That's a guy who I've been talking about all morning. He's outstanding. I think come week seven or eight, that's going to be the guy who everybody's, like, he's the next great one from DBU.

Q. It's a Saturday in September in Baton Rouge. It's hot. It's humid. Death Valley. The lights are on. Everybody's screaming, go Tigers. Do you still get the goosebumps in the tunnel?

WHIT WEEKS: Every time, every time. There's no better feeling in the world than playing the night game in Death Valley. I cannot wait to play Clemson week one. Coach Kiffin's "Welcome to Death Valley," that stadium is going to be rocking. I'm so excited.

Q. I asked you earlier about Chris Kiffin. Can you compare the coaches with -- are they similar? Are they different? We haven't seen that side.

WHIT WEEKS: It's funny because I can tell -- you can tell they're brothers, for sure. Being around my brothers so much, I'm like, wow, I can see the tendencies of who is the older brother, who is the little brother. I can see -- I'll be like, wow, me and Coach Chris, we're very similar because Coach Kiffin is Coach Chris Kiffin's older brother. West is kind of that to me.

Q. I know last year, I think you were injured. But what do you remember from the Texas A&M game and then coming to Death Valley last year, and then just how much are you looking forward to being able to host them again for a second year in a row?

WHIT WEEKS: I'm really excited for that game. I wish we were playing them in College Station because I love going to that stadium. That's an unbelievable stadium as well.

It was tough for me, because when you're not playing, you feel like you're letting your brothers down. So it's really hard for me when I'm sitting out games like that. So it is going to be exciting for me to get to play A&M this year because I didn't get to play them last year. I feel like I owe it to my teammates to go out there and give them everything I've got.

Q. On the lines of Chris Kiffin, Blake Baker was your linebackers coach previously. So he's taking over that responsibility to kind of have a wider-ranging effect on the whole defense, from what I understand. What's the difference in the coaching you're getting between Blake Baker and Chris Kiffin at linebacker?

WHIT WEEKS: I think it's awesome to have Coach Chris with us because he's a guy who's been all around. He's been in the NFL. He's coached some great linebackers. He's really helped all of us with our technical work, and it also frees up Coach Baker to go into the safeties room, the D line room, the edge room, and help those guys as well.

So it's freed up Baker to do a lot more now that we do have a linebacker coach. But I think the biggest thing that he's done for us in just working on our feet, which at the end of the day it all comes down to our footwork at linebacker, your pass drops, how you fit the run, and I think he's a very smart football coach in the technical aspect, for sure.