re: This opting out BS has to be fixed

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Can we get BK to meet up with Saban and see how he gets his first rounders to play in non playoff bowl games?

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1, they’re playing in the Sugar Bowl, not the Citrus. Still, it is very impressive that Young and Anderson are choosing to play. But this is not Saban’s 1st year at Bama. It’s taken him over a decade to create the culture where guys who are probably both set to go top 5 (of not top 2) have chosen to play in a non-playoff NY6 bowl game. And I don’t think Saban pressured them to play at all—he would have respected their choice not to play had they decided that—he’s just instilled in his players over the years to make the right choices, and these 2 particular guys think playing 1 last time for the Alabama Crimson Tide is the right choice for them (they do have a ton of guys in the portal who aren’t playing).

But this is the kind of culture Kelly us trying to create at LSU. It’s why he’s so meticulous in vetting the character of his high school recruits and wants as many from Louisiana as possible. He wants guys he thinks will stick around to be developed by him and his staff, so that they can have years of instilling into them the importance of making good decisions, making them habits that will benefit them in both their post-LSU playing careers and life in general.

It’s why he’s also meticulous in choosing guys from the portal too. He had the quote during the year about how the portal can be good to fill holes, but “you better know who you’re bringing in.” He’s not just gonna take the best guys at positions of need—they have to be good, but also have good character, the kind that will buy in and be “in alignment.” And why he recently said we’re not gonna take anybody with just 1 year of eligibility anymore. He wants them to develop in HIS system, not just as football players, but more so as young men. Because then he can trust them to make the right choices.

Before the portal and these Young and Anderson decisions to play in the Sugar Bowl when they’ll both be in the NFL last year, we were wondering how Saban was able to get 4 and 5 stars to wait sometimes until their JR or even SR years to start while we seemed to have to play all our studs early and get 3 years out of them until they bounced. It was a big part of Bama’s dominance—not only did they have great players, but they had relatively older teams too. And it’s because Saban recruited either high character guys or guys he thought would buy into his process to be physically and mentally prepared to play when it was their turn to play. And if they didn’t immediately buy in, they were promptly processed and shown the door. Make no mistake, Saban’s blueprint is exactly what Kelly is trying to follow, he is trying to build the exact same kind of culture at LSU. Now, Saban built his monster before the portal and NIL, so Kelly will have to be flexible and adjust to this new era of CFB. But he’s already shown to be able to adapt and be very forward-thinking and proactive rather than reactive. And that’s exactly the kind of coach we need right now. Someone who is proactive, has a solid plan, is intentional in his decisions to make that plan work, but not so rigid that he won’t adjust the plan as needed in order to achieve his ultimate goal of creating the best culture possible for LSU to be a consistent championship program.