Brian Kelly Talks About Harold Perkins Moving Back To Inside Linebacker

LSU head coach Brian Kelly recently spoke to The Advocate and revealed that star defender Harold Perkins will be moving back to inside linebacker.

Perkins excelled during his freshman season as a pass rusher and quickly became one of the best defenders in college football in 2022.

Last spring, Kelly and former defensive coordinator Matt House switched Perkins to inside linebacker, but it was obvious early into his sophomore season that his production dropped off at his new position.

Perkins was then moved into a "hybrid strongside/nickel linebacker" position, where he made more of an impact. Now, he will return to inside linebacker in Blake Baker's new defense.

quote:

---

“He needs to be in the action,” Kelly said in an interview Monday. “He needs to be the (weakside) linebacker. He needs to be in the box. He needs to be active in there. That's where he's going to start, and we've got to get him ready at that position.”

“We felt like we could manage it better with him there,” Kelly said. “We don't want to manage it. We want to get him in a position where he can impact the defense, where he will play at the next level. I think we owe it to him."

“We can lock him into some specific things that will allow him to really play fast,” Kelly said. “The key is he's got to play fast. He's got to be able to utilize his talents. And so we've got to be able to help him out with that.”

“Whether it was scheme or whether it was our inability to get him to where we wanted him, he needs to be more involved in the linebacker fits inside,” Kelly said. “That's going to get him ready for the next level. It's going to make us a better defense.”

---

Loading Twitter Embed....