After starting the final three games of his freshman season, LSU cornerback Ashton Stamps spent the spring and summer determined to make sure it was more than just a cameo.

From the review he received from Brian Kelly on Wednesday, it appears that the first two weeks of preseason training went exactly as Stamps envisioned after his first season with the Tigers.

Buoyed by the return of secondary coach Corey Raymond to LSU and the aggressive attacking strategy of new defensive coordinator Blake Baker, Stamps is definitely in his element playing man-to-man and pressuring wide receivers coming off the line of scrimmage.

In other words, he has quickly established himself as the Tigers’ best cornerback and will likely be in the starting lineup for the opener against Southern Cal since the first snap of preseason practice on August 1.

That morning, the Archbishop Rummel High School graduate reiterated his claim to the position with an intercepted pass on the sideline during a 7-on-7 drill.

But it was obviously not his only highlight in the camp.

“The report I had on my desk this morning said his man coverage was pretty good relative to the balls defended in training camp,” Kelly said. “Ask any cornerback, they all want to play man coverage. There’s no cornerback that wants to play zone coverage; they’re best at man coverage and that’s good, right?”

“You want that kind of mentality. He was defending balls, breaking up passes, his numbers were the best in camp. So I think he’s comfortable out there.”

Stamps has that feeling because of Baker’s change in game plan after some terrible results a year ago. LSU finished 13th in the Southeastern Conference and 115th out of 130 FBS teams with 255.6 passes allowed per game.

Stamps hopes to drastically reduce those numbers with a better understanding of the game and the help of Raymond, a longtime LSU assistant coach who was brought back by Kelly in January after spending the last two seasons in Florida.

“Just understanding football, slowing the game down, just being a professional,” Stamps said of the improvement in his game since LSU’s win over Wisconsin on New Year’s Day in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

“It’s been going really well, but I still have a lot of work to do,” he said. “I’m nowhere near where I could be with my potential, so I’m just going to keep working. I’m not worried about the past or the future, I’m worried about the here and now.”

Stamps is coming off a rocky first season that saw him turn heads in the preseason, starting as a backup for the first few games before injuries and suspensions to other cornerbacks pushed him into the starting lineup for the Ole Miss game in late September.

But he too was plagued by injuries that caused him to miss two games before being able to start the final three games – all of which the Stamps and Tigers won.

“He’s moving well, he’s not in any pain,” Kelly said of what he’s seen from Stamps. “He had some stubborn injuries last year, so I think he just feels confident out there.”

“He’s stronger. He’s had a really good year in the weight room and I think he’s confident he can play against the very best in the SEC because he competes against them every day.”

Stamps also feels comfortable allowing his secondary players to play freely and quickly in the system that the lively and energetic Baker brought to LSU.

“Just being free allows you to do crazy things, like having time to process what the offense is going to do next, what the receiver is going to do next,” Stamps said. “He’s going to pressure us, he’s going to make us aggressive, just make us fight.”

That means more man coverage than a year ago, and he said that’s exactly his thing.

“It’s the SEC, that’s what you have to do,” Stamps said of the challenge. “You have to cover the receivers. I think that’s the best part of my game… I like to get hands-on with somebody and work with them. That’s just what I do.”

Although he doesn’t look too far into the future, Stamps likes what Raymond did with the cornerbacks in his previous stint at LSU from 2012-21.

Most recently, Derek Stingley was selected third in the first round in the 2022 NFL Draft, Cordale Flott was selected in the third round that same year, and Kristian Fulton went in the second round in 2020.

“It’s a good feeling to be coached by someone who brought people like that into the league,” Stamps said. “It’s great to just be able to pick up things from Coach Raymond.”

And you can see that clearly.