How Brian Kelly further proved this week that he's a terrible fit at LSU
When LSU football hired Brian Kelly to replace Ed Orgeron in late November, it was immediately viewed as a strange fit. Kelly's had a lot of success while leading Notre Dame for the last decade. But he's never coached south of Indiana/Ohio. Coaching in the SEC is unlike coaching in any other conference. Kelly can […]
When LSU football hired Brian Kelly to replace Ed Orgeron in late November, it was immediately viewed as a strange fit.
Kelly's had a lot of success while leading Notre Dame for the last decade. But he's never coached south of Indiana/Ohio.
Coaching in the SEC is unlike coaching in any other conference. Kelly can be prickly at times, which is why there's some question as to whether or not he can succeed in Baton Rouge.
At first, I felt like the "fit" deal was overblown. Nick Saban didn't have experience coaching in the south before taking the LSU job and that worked out just fine. Les Miles didn't have experience in the south either, and he won a national championship with the Tigers.
Ed Orgeron is probably the best fit there's ever been at LSU. He won a natty (thanks to current Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow), but he was also fired.
However, the more I see from Kelly, the more I think he's going to be an absolute disaster at LSU. I just don't think he's cut out for the SEC life.
We got two examples this week of how Kelly isn't a good fit at LSU.
The first example is via a tweet that I'm sure many saw as harmless.
That's a self-absorbed tweet if I've ever seen one.
And look, if you're an LSU fan and you're reading this and getting mad at me, I get it. But try to look at this from an objective viewpoint. Why is Kelly making it about "BK" and not about LSU? You don't see Nick Saban and Kirby Smart doing this kind of stuff. It feels like there's a lot of ego with Kelly.
It reminds me a bit of former Tennessee Vols head coach Butch Jones, a Kelly disciple who made everything about himself while coaching in the SEC. It worked for Jones at Central Michigan and Cincinnati, but it was a disaster in the SEC. Jones and Kelly run similar programs. And while Kelly is the far superior coach, I think we saw enough from Jones — who had a couple of good seasons in Knoxville — to know that this style of coaching isn't sustainable in the SEC.
The second example of Kelly being in over his head came during one of his media sessions with reporters this week.
Kelly was asked about LSU wide receiver Kayshon Boutte, one of the most talented wide receivers in the nation.
There haven't been any documented issues between Kelly and Boutte. So it was a bit strange when Kelly started talking vaguely about issues with Boutte.
"I would say I know his last name right now," said Kelly in response to a question about Boutte. "And I say that only because we’re in that process of he’s re-engaging. He’s been injured. He had a second surgery. But we’re getting more acquainted.”
“Look, he’s a great player,” added Kelly. “He’s a good kid, but this has been a rough spot for him. And what happens is you tend to get distracted because you’re not involved in everything. But he’s learning you have to be involved in everything, whether you’re injured or not. And that’s a process he’s going through. We’re seeing some really good changes. We had a nice conversation in the training room this morning where he’s on top of his academics and he’s making good progress.”
There's some snark in Kelly's response. And it felt like he threw Boutte under the bus publicly for no reason. That doesn't usually work out too well in the SEC — especially with the NCAA transfer portal lingering in the background.
And look, I know there will be a lot of comments about Kelly's standard and how this is "refreshing" after the Orgeron era. It's the same stuff that's said about every new head coach during their honeymoon phase. But when the honeymoon is over, and Kelly is facing adversity, remember the words I wrote here. He's not a good fit at LSU. And this hire isn't going to work out the way many think it will. Kelly can't run the same program he ran at Notre Dame and expect better results in Baton Rouge.
Go ahead and call me out now (you can find me on Twitter here), but just remember to circle back here in a few years.
Featured image via USA TODAY Sports
