As the 2024 LSU football season approaches another disappointing end, there are countless questions surrounding the program, this team and, more importantly, its leader Brian Kelly.
Brian Kelly is a combined 20-7 since arriving at LSU in 2021. This year, though, he’s just hoping to stay above .500.
Ever since Kelly arrived in Baton Rouge and was introduced as the Tigers “new championship head coach,” he has drawn an unprecedented amount of attention from the media, but Kelly has been turning heads long before the debut of his fake southern accent.
Kelly was officially introduced to the LSU fanbase at a men’s basketball game back on Dec. 2, 2021, and was immediately thrust into the social media spotlight following the sudden onset of a questionably Southern accent from a man who has no ties to anything south of the Mason-Dixon line.
While Kelly led his 2022 Tiger team to a 10-4 season, his inability to make success happen since lucking into the SEC championship in 2022 begs the question: Is Brian Kelly ever going to find real success in the SEC?
LSU has now lost its opening game three years in a row, starting in 2022 due to a litany of mistakes against Florida State, again to Florida state in 2023 in a blowout loss and this year to a USC team that is now sitting at 3-5.
LSU has also now lost three games in a row, starting with a second half implosion on the road at Texas A&M, then a four-quarter embarrassment at home against Alabama and now an 11-point loss on the road at Florida. Something worth mentioning is that LSU has not lost Florida since 2018, the year Joe Burrow transferred to LSU.
Brian Kelly’s reputation for not winning the games that matter began while he was still the head coach at Notre Dame. In South Bend, he earned the nickname “Big Game Kelly,” a sarcastic poke at his ability to consistently choke big games.
At Notre Dame, Kelly seemed to have the same issues he’s had so far at LSU, or at least the issues he repeats in his media availability – of late Kelly’s responses have been criticized as political non-answers. Following three of his four losses this year alone Kelly has said something to the effect of, “We got out-coached.” well coach Kelly, that’s not good enough anymore.
Now, it would be foolish not to mention that Kelly has already developed a Heisman-winning quarterback in Jayden Daniels, a should-have-been Biletnikoff winner in Malik Nabers and another first round receiver in Brian Thomas Jr. However, the consensus surrounding those three players is that Kelly wasted them.
While it may not have been by Kelly’s hand, it was certainly by his leadership. Matt House was Kelly’s hand pick for defensive coordinator. Together, Kelly and House put on display one of, if not theworst defense in LSU’s history as a program.
But if my analysis wasn’t enough to convince you, let’s take a different approach to this; so far at LSU, Kelly has only won four games against AP ranked opponents. His successor at Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman, has won 10 in that same span and is 9-1 this season with the Irish looking for a spot in the 12-team playoff. Yikes.
In his four ranked wins, Kelly’s won three of them when playing in Death Valley – twice against Ole Miss, and once against Nick Saban’s Alabama. On the road the following year? Embarrassment at its finest in Oxford, and a home team domination in Tuscaloosa.
If we take a closer look, though, none of those four wins really mean anything. Sure, you won the SEC West in 2022, but like Will Campbell said prior to this season, “10 games is cool for other schools. Not here … 10 games gets people fired, people replaced,” said Campbell.
Two weeks after the Alabama win in 2022, LSU headed to College Station to play Texas A&M. The narrative leading up to that game was that it was a win and you’re in game for the College Football Playoff. But Kelly and his Tigers got shredded on the road 38-23, alongside their hopes of making the CFP.
At the time, clinching the SEC West was celebrated, as it should have been, but 2 years later and sitting at 6-4, that memory is quickly fading. The proof is quickly piling up to show that Kelly is incapable of winning when it really matters.
In 2023, LSU went 10-3 overall and tied for second in the SEC West. The Tigers got utterly humiliated in the opener to Florida State, gave up 700 yards against Ole Miss, and then just got out-manned at Alabama.
This year, a one-loss LSU, hot off two unexpected wins, headed into College Station with an opportunity to control the SEC. In the first half, LSU was certainly not error-free but led the Aggies 17-7 at halftime. But ever since the freshman backup QB Marcell Reed entered the game in the second half, LSU has been a winless program.
Following the A&M nightmare scenario, LSU got absolutely blown out at home by Alabama and lost by double digits to what is statistically one of the worst teams in the conference in Florida.
Kelly’s coaching has caused continuous embarrassment to the LSU brand and the legacy of violent and proud play style from legends like Leonard Fournette, Tyrann Mathieu and Patrick Peterson.
Kelly’s lack of cultural knowledge, his historical inability to win games with playoff implications and his unwillingness to spend big in the portal are going to be huge obstacles for the Tigers to surmount in the coming years, as Kelly’s buyout is far too large to consider letting him go currently.
What little grace Kelly has left with LSU fans needs to be recognized, and changes need to be made if Kelly wants to stay at LSU for the foreseeable future.
