Brian Kelly Reveals How Transition From Notre Dame To LSU Would Have Been Easier

By Staff ReporterJul 14, 202611:04 amDiscuss the story20
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Former LSU coach Brian Kelly joined The Independent: A Notre Dame Football Podcast recently and discussed his time in South Bend and his transition to Baton Rouge.

During the interview, Kelly suggested that it would have been easier to succeed at LSU had he been able to bring his former OC, Tommy Rees, and DC, Marcus Freeman, with him.
quote:

"How different do you think things would have been if that group followed you to Baton Rouge?"

“Oh, I think it means a lot. I think you know again, and going back to Matt’s question, in terms of looking at the things that may have made this process slower than they wanted it to be, was coordinator hires, and I needed to do a better job there,” Kelly said on The Independent: A Notre Dame Football Podcast.

“I had to make a change after Year in defense. That’s never a great thing after Year 2 to make a change on defense, and I think the world of Matt House, (he) is a great man, and he’s a smart football coach, but it didn’t work."

“And then you know Joe Sloan was handed a tough you know obviously situation, and he was inexperienced in some areas, and he was outstanding in others. But I think, as I look at it, those two that you mentioned, if they were able to make the move, it would have been an easier transition, no doubt.”
20 Comments
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SimmaDown33713 hours
Or maybe, just maybe…spending less time golfing could have helped?
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atltiger648711 hours
I generally don't have a problem with coaches taking some away time. Spurrier at Florida was well-known for not sleeping in his office and working reasonable hours, and they dominated for a decade. It mostly comes down to hiring the right coaching staff and recruiting well. An occasion round of golf doesn't hurt that - but Kelly made bad staff hires.
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Herodijontiger4 hours
Maybe not getting rid of the best recruiter of DBs in the country may of helped
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TigerFanFromBama12 hours
Its simple... hiring a NFL position coach that hadn't called plays in 4 years was lazy hire. There were plenty of successful college DCs that wouldve walked to Baton Rouge for that job. You were better off retaining Baker and Raymond to keep some continuity on that side of the ball.

Promoting Sloan was even more of lazy hire. There were plenty of innovative OCs out there.

His whole entire tenure was full of lazy/head scratching decisions. On and off the field.
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jkylejohnson13 hours
Less golf and luncheons and maybe build relationships with your players instead of putting yourself up on this pedestal above them. Maybe they’d have wanted to win for him. Kelly seemed like he was looking for one more big pay day before he hung it up. Never seemed to be hungry or have that fire this program needed to succeed.
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LSU Tiger Eyes12 hours
I am surprised he knew some of the names.of his previous staff.
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Pepe Lepew10 hours
What a bitch…
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Timeoday12 hours
Already throwing shade at Kiffen since Kiffen will obviously prove to us all how bad of a hire BK was.
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semjase10 hours
Retaining Brad Davis was the worst, but we have all heard the stories about Woodward protecting Davis from getting fired.
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HarryHoudini9 hours
You’re not a good coach if you have to rely this heavily on coordinators. The HC should always be the smartest person in the room.
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Kc from BR4 hours
To much drinking and slinging the 1 wood
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lsutiger26 hours
This was the biggest surprise to me of the Brian Kelly era was these bad coaching hires. Brian Kelly was known for hiring good coaches and has a pretty impressive coaching tree.
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Barbellthor7 hours
So...making better coordinator hires?
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LSU_Legz11 hours
Or he could have just listened to tRant. Even that would have been an improvement.
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33inNC3 hours
CBK with the excuses. Dude, YOU could have hired anyone you wanted, yet you chose loser after loser after loser once your star OC left. Enjoy your millions and shut up!
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plance3 hours
‘Process was slower than they wanted it to be”.
What? There is no illusion to what expectations are here - and he knew that when he took the gig.
Average doesn’t cut it.
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how3333 hours
Who’s brian kelly???
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SOL24 hours
If the entire staff came, we would have been in a few playoffs
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KennabraTiger11 hours
It would’ve been easier if you didn’t fake a southern accent and spent more time coaching than drinking and playing golf
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SOL24 hours
I think he's right. If had brought his entire staff. He would still be here.
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