NASHVILLE – Brian Kelly doesn’t need to feign an accent anymore. Winning the SEC West is good enough to get you more respected around the South. But it still has its uses in recruiting, apparently.
“I think my accent is pretty good and it’s gotten better throughout the recruiting process,” Kelly said Monday during SEC media days. “It depends on if I’m in northern Louisiana or southern Louisiana. Sometimes I get over to Lake Charles, it’s got to change a little bit.”
This time a year ago, Kelly had his skeptics. For as decorated as his resume was, his hire was met with questions. Cincinnati and Notre Dame were one thing, but LSU is another entirely. Kelly had reached his ceiling in South Bend; tired of his teams getting whipped by SEC behemoths, he was ready to take the reins of one. LSU, after an embarrassing end to the Ed Orgeron era, turned to Kelly.
It was a messy start. Off the field, Kelly’s cringe-worthy attempt at a southern accent went viral, as did an odd video in which he awkwardly danced with a recruit (“Did you lose or a bet or something,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin asked in a tweet). On the field, Kelly’s team lost to Florida State in a sloppy opener. It seemed this would be a lengthy path back to relevancy.
Yet Kelly’s Tigers won nine of their next 11 games, including a thrilling one-point victory over Alabama, en route to winning the SEC West. Quarterback Jayden Daniels made substantial progress since arriving from Arizona State. Linebacker Harold Perkins was perhaps the country’s best freshman (and he’s moving from the edge to inside for 2023). Kelly proved, again, that he’s a top-tier coach.
But in its most important game, LSU fell to the Bulldogs, 50-30, in the SEC Championship. Georgia is the nation’s measuring stick after consecutive national championships. LSU had moments in that game, but overall, it wasn’t close.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked Kelly if he feels his program has closed the gap with Georgia.
“It’s a measurement for everybody in here to see it on the field, right?” Kelly said. “That’s how everybody measures if the gap is closing. What’s the score of the game, what’s the eye test tell me, what’s the competitiveness of that game? Will we have that opportunity if we get into the (conference) championship against Georgia?
“I know that based upon how we’ve recruited, and how we’ll continue to recruit, that we’ll have a football roster that will be able to compete against Georgia. Is that right now? No, it’s not. But if we continue to do what we’re doing, we’re going to have a roster that can compete against Georgia. Then it’s just a matter of getting it done on the playing field so everybody can then assess they’ve closed the gap.”
The Tigers lost only six drafted players to the NFL, a rarity for the program that’s constantly forced to replenish. A sizable portion of the offense is back, including Daniels, leading receiver Malik Nabers and a sturdy offensive line bookended by stud tackles Will Campbell and Emery Jones.
So it’s easy to understand why the Tigers enter 2023 hopeful they’ll return to the College Football Playoff. Even after losing their final two SEC games by a combined 35 points, the Tigers are brimming with optimism.
“I feel that we’re close to winning a national championship,” said defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo when asked about how his team compares with Georgia. “That is the standard we’re upholding in the building.”
Daniels: “I thought we were this close to winning the SEC. We were a couple plays away from competing with Georgia, the national champions, and I feel like we can win the SEC moving forward if we handle things correctly and go about the process and meet our standards.”
LSU opens against Florida State, who’s getting buzz as a potential ACC champion and even playoff team, in Orlando. LSU draws Ole Miss, Florida and Texas A&M at home while getting Ole Miss on the road. It faces Alabama on the road Nov. 4 in a contest that could determine the West’s winner. The trip to Tuscaloosa is its only road contest over the final seven weeks.
There isn’t any great mystery with this LSU team. Its championship potential is based upon two rather cliché storylines: A quarterback’s growth and getting past Alabama and Georgia. Daniels might be the single piece who can lift LSU into legitimate title contention.
“(Kelly) demands a lot out of me as far as the scheme,” Daniels said. “You just need to know the game within the game. That’s probably where it’s different from Arizona State to LSU. Just what he demands from the quarterback, and it’s obviously needed if I want to go out there to the next level (NFL).”
LSU sits atop the athletics landscape. Its women’s basketball team won the NCAA tournament. The Tigers won the College World Series, then had pitcher Paul Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews go 1-2 in the MLB draft. The gymnastics team finished fourth. And from Joe Burrow to Angel Reese to Olivia Dunne to Skenes, it feels everywhere one looks in sports, LSU is at the forefront.
“All we can think about is championships after what Jay Johnson did in baseball and Kim Mulkey in basketball, our success in gymnastics,” Kelly said.
The Tigers probably won’t enter the season favorites. Alabama will likely be the consensus SEC West preseason pick yet again, while Georgia is on top until it’s unseated. But just as Kelly surprised in his first season, he could do so again in 2023.
After all, it’s tough to bet against anything LSU these days.
About the Author
