BATON ROUGE — LSU lost two quarterbacks in just as many days.
LSU redshirt freshman quarterback Lowell Narcisse has decided to do what he previously considered as early as late last season — transfer.
"After sitting down and talking with my family, I've decided the best thing for my future is to transfer and get a fresh start and be able to have an opportunity to showcase my abilities," Narcisse (@L_Narcisse2) tweeted Tuesday night.
Junior Justin McMillan followed suit, announcing his departure via Twitter on Wednesday morning. He has graduated from LSU and still has two years of eligibility remaining beginning this season at any other school.
“With grace and humility, I say thank you to all the players, coaches and staff members of the LSU football team who have been like family to me for the past three and half years,” McMillan said. “I love my brothers and my heart is heavy, but sometimes life takes you in a different direction than you may want.”
Narcisse, a 2017 signee whose progress at LSU was slowed by two major knee injuries over his last two seasons at St. James High School, was the third-team quarterback last season and was likely to be in that slot or perhaps fourth team this season.
Graduate transfer junior Joe Burrow, who played parts of the 2016 and '17 seasons as a backup at Ohio State and nearly won the starting job last spring, and sophomore Myles Brennan, who was the No. 2 quarterback at LSU last season after nearly winning the job in August, have been the favorites to win the starting job ahead of McMillan and Narcisse.
McMillan and Narcisse have thrown one pass in a college game between them. McMillan was 1 of 1 in the 2016 season.
Neither Narcisse nor McMillan was at practice on Tuesday.
"I would like to thank LSU for giving me a great opportunity to further my education and play football at the highest level," Narcisse said in his tweet.
LSU coach Ed Orgeron said just before August practices opened that Narcisse was looking good.
"Lowell Narcisse is probably the most talented quarterback that we have," he said. "He's a bull. He can run the football. He's hard to tackle. Remember now, Lowell had two ACLs (anterior cruciate ligament knee surgeries while at St. James High). He didn't play for two years. So he's just coming back."Orgeron talked Narcisse up to some national media members late last season as Narcisse was considering a transfer then. Tweets followed from national media members that Narcisse was playing better, but in truth his throwing accuracy remained erratic.
"In the spring, he was full speed, looking good, has a rocket for an arm," Orgeron said before August practices opened. "Still needs to develop a little bit of his quarterback skills. But I'm interested to see him."
Narcisse was unable to make a move in the quarterback race during spring practice or this month. Brennan and McMillan exited spring ahead of Narcisse, though an inconsistent Brennan did not seize the job as Orgeron said he thought he would.
The Tigers then signed Burrow, but Orgeron had previously said on national signing day in February that he planned to sign a graduate transfer quarterback since he lost target quarterback James Foster of Montgomery, Alabama, to Texas A&M and new coach Jimbo Fisher. Foster was the No. 18 dual threat quarterback in the nation by Rivals.com and No. 11 prospect in the state. Orgeron likely would have signed Burrow even if Brennan had performed better in the spring.
"In the spring, he was full speed, looking good, has a rocket for an arm," Orgeron said before August practices opened. "Still needs to develop a little bit of his quarterback skills. But I'm interested to see him."
Narcisse mentioned Orgeron and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Steve Ensminger in his tweet.
"I would also like to thank Coach O and Coach Ensminger for giving me a great opportunity at one of the best programs in America," Narcisse continued. "I want to wish my teammates the best of luck this year!”
Burrow and Brennan are LSU's only quarterbacks on scholarship. The other quarterbacks on the roster are walk-ons - true freshman Jordan Loving of Riverside Academy in Reserve and sophomore Andre Sale of Little Rock, Arkansas, who transferred from Tennessee Tech.
Neither quarterback said what schools they are considering in their tweets.
Narcisse could play this season at a junior college, then transfer to an upper division school and be eligible to play there in 2019. He would have to sit out if he transferred to an upper division school now.
"I will represent the Boot," he said to end his tweet.
As a sophomore in 2014 before the knee injuries, Narcisse completed 205 of 358 passes for 3,124 yards and 31 touchdowns at St. James High while rushing for another 1,402 yards and 18 touchdowns.
He threw for 2,013 yards as a freshman and rushed for 637 yards.
In the 2016-17 recruiting season, Narcisse was a three-star prospect who was ranked as the No. 16 dual threat quarterback in the nation and the No. 18 overall prospect in the state by Rivals.com, which did not rank him nationally as an overall prospect.
McMillan was a two-star prospect in 2015 out of Cedar Hill, Texas, who was not ranked across the board. He was red-shirted in '15. McMillan had the best spring game of the quarterbacks and took the first snaps with the first team when practice began on Aug. 4. All four quarterbacks then rotated with the various units up until Tuesday.
The No. 24 Tigers open the season on Sept. 2 against No. 8 Miami in Arlington, Texas.
WWL-TV's Sam Winstrom contributed to this story
