LSU football had the best offense in college football last season. Quarterback Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy. Receivers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. were stars, who made tons of catches and ended up being first-round NFL Draft picks.

Amassing more than 45 points per game is a scary proposition for any defensive coach standing on the other sideline. Despite the astronomical numbers, the Tigers weren't good enough to play for the SEC Championship. The numbers weren't enough to pave a path to the College Football Playoff, winning 10 games but losing a pair of big ones.

LSU coach Brian Kelly knows having the best offense doesn't mean trophies are inevitable.

"Having the top offense in the country was not good enough," Kelly said at Day 1 of SEC Media Kickoff on Monday morning from the Omni Hotel in downtown Dallas. "You have to be able to complement each other. We need that complement on defense and play better defense this year.

"We've made necessary strides this offseason to continue on that growth."

Strides began shortly after that season.

A disappointing collection of 13 games — when LSU's defense gave up 28 points per game, good enough for 78th in FBS, allowed 416.6 yards per game (105th in college football) while the secondary gave up 255.6 passing yards per game, a mark that ranked 115th in the nation — led to a staff overhaul for Kelly.

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Defensive coordinator Matt House, defensive line coach Jamar Cain, cornerbacks coach Robert Steeples, safeties coach Kerry Cooks were all dismissed and Kelly went out and landed some bigger names among SEC coaching and recruiting circles.

Blake Baker takes overs at DC, formerly overseeing the defense at Missouri who experienced one of the historically best seasons. Kelly hired Bo Davis to coach the defensive line, a guy that's spent plenty of time in the SEC and has signed numerous four-and five-star prospects during his coaching career.

Kevin Peoples will coach the edge rushers, Corey Raymond is back at LSU to coach corners after spending the past couple of seasons at Florida, and new safeties Jake Olsen comes to Baton Rouge from Missouri where he worked under Baker.

Days away from preseason practice starting, where Kelly feels LSU's defense has been the biggest strides under Baker the last seven-plus months has been player engagement and excitement level.

"Scheme aside, everybody has their flavor of what his scheme looks like. Blake has established a comfort level in a particular scheme. But it's relationships. It's getting players excited about stepping onto the field," Kelly said. " It's about players wanting to be a part of those 11 guys, running, hitting, being a part of that unit.

"Blake Baker's ability to orchestrate that has been a piece that's been really evident."

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LSU lost a few starters on defense due to graduation, or moving on to the NFL, but there's been some shifting and and installing that has the Tigers believing that any drop-off at those areas — especially along the defensive front where they lost three starters — won't be felt.

"We make the kind of strides to bring our defense up to the standard necessary to win a championship. We feel like we've done that," Kelly said. "We've got a little work to do in the preseason and our opener will test us when we open up against USC in Las Vegas, a game which we're excited about."

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Brian Kelly: LSU football having No. 1 offense 'wasn't good enough.'