Why Georgia native Whit Weeks is the ‘driver’ of LSU’s defense

Weeks led the Tigers with 125 tackles last season, finishing second on the team with 10 tackles-for-loss and third with 3.5 sacks. This, in addition to his 6 quarterback hurries, 3 pass break-ups, 2 forced fumbles and interception.

“Whit is our driver, he brings the passion,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said on Monday. “He’s got incredible focus, he’s got incredible passion, and it rubs off on our entire defense.”

Jacob Hester, a national champion at LSU, NFL running back and current Tigers radio color man, still remembers getting the call to help close Weeks’ recruitment three years ago.

“The coaching staff called me — never happened before, hasn’t happened since — and said, ‘We have to have this guy from Georgia,’ “Hester told the AJC Monday. “They said, ‘We feel like he’s a guy that could come in and change the direction of our program.’“

Weeks grew up in the heart of Georgia Bulldog territory, going to school at Oconee County, just miles from UGA’s campus. He is also a Georgia football legacy; his father David was a former Bulldogs’ offensive lineman who played under coach Ray Goff from 1991-95.

Current Georgia coach Kirby Smart noted the talent in the Weeks family before — he was teammates with David. Whit Weeks had a Georgia scholarship offer, but he wanted to experience a different part of the country.

“I always say this: The world’s too small to stay in one spot your whole life,” Whit said when asked why he chose LSU over Georgia in the recruiting process.

“My dad played at Georgia and was teammates with Kirby, and I know they have a great program over there,” he added. “But ultimately, I wanted to just go see something else, go to a different part of the world.”

Whit’s brother, West, also starred at Oconee County before enrolling at Virginia and playing a season with the ACC school in 2021 before his transfer to LSU in 2022.

And now his other brother Zach Weeks, yet another former Oconee County star linebacker, is also headed to LSU after reclassifying out of his senior year of high school and into a freshman year in Baton Rouge this fall.

According to one LSU teammate, it’s another log on the passionate fire burning in the Tigers’ defensive meeting room.

“Whit is one of those players that brings energy,” Tigers receiver Chris Hilton said at SEC Media Days. “They (the Weeks brothers) are all the same.”

Whit said the passion will only increase with two brothers at his side each day at LSU.

“I know if I’m not bringing the energy, they’re gonna get on me,” Whit said. “It really is a blessing to have two brothers down there with me right now.”

Some believe if the Tigers’ defense rises up behind Whit and with the return of outside linebacker Harold Perkins Jr., LSU can win the national championship.

SEC Network analyst Chris Doering on Monday told DawgNation that LSU is his pick to win the national championship.

It starts Week One, just more than an hour away from where the Weeks brothers grew up, when the Bayou Bengals open the 2025 campaign at Clemson.

“The 2023 offensive football team we had was good enough to win a national championship,” Kelly said. “We weren’t good enough as a team, and a lot of that had to do with addressing some shortcomings we had on defense.

“We think we’ve done that. I love our roster. I love our team and the way they interact, the camaraderie of our group, the seriousness and focus, their intent.”

Whit Weeks will be looked at to lead the way, from start to finish.

“He’s with offensive guys, defensive guys, and that’s hard, to have that one guy that’s not the quarterback that can get the whole team together,” said Hester, who also hosts the “Off Campus” college football-themed show on Sirius XM radio. “He’s that very rare guy that really has the ear of the team.

“Whit Weeks, to me, is one of the most important players in the country for his team.”