Brian Kelly on being open and honest, new coordinators and quarterbacks, and that USC opener in Destin, Florida Brian Kelly is aware that his statement that LSU wasn’t interested in buying players gained him a lot of attention this offseason.
And he knows some of it was pretty rough road, like his daily commute from his home in Baton Rouge to the LSU football complex.
“I know what I get into when I open my mouth,” Kelly said on Tuesday at the Southeastern Conference spring meeting while being interviewed by Peter Burns, Chris Doering, and former Tigers fullback Jacob Hester for Sirius “There are times when transparency isn’t the best approach.”
Kelly stated earlier this month that he didn’t want to ruin the dynamic in his locker room by supporting one-year transfers with NIL contracts that vastly exceed those of his current players. Then, he made references to two defensive tackle transfers that LSU had a strong interest in but ultimately lost out on to Miami and Oklahoma, respectively: Simeon Barrow from Michigan State and Damonic Williams from TCU.
However, Kelly hasn’t changed his stance after three weeks.
He declared, “This is a slippery slope.” “Looking back, maybe I shouldn’t have discussed it in terms of those one-on-one meetings. But that’s my identity.
“Developing your son has been the cornerstone of my entire career. I have no idea how much you are worth. But I am aware that this isn’t what we are doing when you walk in and your only concern is money. Our goal is for you to develop completely. Additionally, we do have NIL. However, we won’t buy players if you come here with money as your only concern.
Regarding the other athletes that LSU is scouting for the 2024–25 class and beyond, Kelly thinks that a sizable portion of them who listened to his entire statement understood his remarks as intended.
“I believe we struck a good number of recruits because they heard the entire thing,” he remarked. “Those that did not received what they desired to hear.”
In addition to Gio Paez from Wisconsin, who was a defensive tackle transfer earlier, LSU eventually added Jay’viar Suggs from Grand Valley State, where Kelly had his first head coaching position in the early 1990s. Kelly then closed the portal at that location.
Regarding the other athletes that LSU is scouting for the 2024–25 class and beyond, Kelly thinks that a sizable portion of them who listened to his entire statement understood his remarks as intended.
“I believe we struck a good number of recruits because they heard the entire thing,” he remarked. “Those that did not received what they desired to hear.”
In addition to Gio Paez from Wisconsin, who was a defensive tackle transfer earlier, LSU eventually added Jay’viar Suggs from Grand Valley State, where Kelly had his first head coaching position in the early 1990s. Kelly then closed the portal at that location.
Blake Ochsendorf, a punter transfer from Louisiana Tech, was recently added to the Tigers, who have room for one more under the 85-man scholarship cap. However, Kelly’s focus has largely shifted from finding talent to developing relationships with the coaches and players he currently works with.
Coaches like Blake Baker, the new defensive coordinator from Missouri, who oversaw the hiring of a completely new defensive staff following one of the worst defensive seasons in LSU history, are examples of this.
Kelly claimed that during spring practice, he attended the majority of Baker’s meetings.
Kelly remarked, “I kind of wanted to get that sense and feel.” “He’s going to coach that team to play with intensity and integrity on every play. I’ve only been with him a short while, but I already sense that.
LSU’s offensive strategy is simply to replace Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels with Garrett Nussmeier, who started and guided the Tigers to a victory over Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Additionally, Nussmeier has made it onto the short list of Heisman Trophy candidates for this year.
“The most thrilling aspect of this change is that you’ll go from being a Heisman Trophy winner to potentially becoming one of the best leaders I’ve ever worked with at LSU,” Kelly remarked. “He just does everything instinctively correctly; he doesn’t do it to win praise for being a great leader; rather, he does all the little things correctly. Watching this team transition to starting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier will be incredibly exciting.
When the Tigers play USC in their Las Vegas opener on September 1, he will get the start.
“I have the same agent as Lincoln Riley (the USC coach),” Kelly remarked, alluding to Trace Armstrong. “There’s no doubt that he opposes us playing this game.”
Nonetheless, it is important for both programs and will be played. Kelly was maybe overly transparent on that point.
He declared, “Both (teams) are going through a defensive reboot.” “Look, since coming here, I haven’t won an opener. We have a big game coming up, and I know they want to start strong too.
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