LSU debuts revolutionary air-conditioned helmets, feels 'hella good'

The forecast this week in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, predicts temperatures rising near triple-digits, with the region’s notorious humidity also a factor.

Weather.com even includes an air advisory warning for the area.

And though the LSU football program is just cranking up its summer conditioning in the coming days, in advance of Brian Kelly’s second season on the Bayou that kicks off Sept. 3 at Florida State, the Tigers are showcasing new, first-of-its-kind technology for the program’s lids.

As in air-conditioned helmets. LSU released some videos of the new gear on various social media platforms.

The mechanically cooled helmets are the product of New Orleans business TIGERAIRE, which says that it “created the Air Accelerator to help athletes, industrial workers and military personnel stay cool.”

Mekhi Wingo gushed that the helmet "feels hella good," and is told that the helmets contain five hours of operation at a time. 

One video showed LSU tight end Mac Markway donning a helmet and immediately gushing about the cooler temperatures, noting how “good that feels.”

TIGERAIRE began showing video clips of the new helmets – the Cyclone – within the past month on social media. A Richmond, Virginia, area high school featured on one video for the company says that he believes “this is going to be a big wave of the future.”

Though Kelly didn’t address the air conditioned helmets during a Wednesday visit on Paul Finebaum’s SEC Network show, he did acknowledge the expectations around the LSU program and predicted resolution this week to the SEC’s eight- or nine-game future league scheduling model.

“This is the SEC. You’re not coming down here with the opportunity to hide,” Kelly told Finebaum. “There’s no hiding down here. It’s what I expected. We still have some work to day, quite frankly. … We’re up to the challenge.”

Kelly said the key topics during the SEC coaches’ meetings have emerged.

“NIL, transfer portal, scheduling, gambling to name a few,” Kelly said.

And as for the hot-button scheduling topic? Kelly expects everyone has an answer in 48 hours.

“I think it will be resolved,” said Kelly, who led LSU to the SEC Western Division title last season in his first year at LSU. “I think that there is a desire when you have all the parties here, they recognize that there’s an urgency to get something done.

“I think by the end of the week, you’ll see something done.”