The timing of the Texas Bowl would be interesting

I know Sonny Dykes coached SMU’s bowl game when he took over, but that is an extreme outlier, and I laughed at anybody who suggested Kelly might do the same. He’s got to concentrate on recruiting and hiring a staff. Plus, a lot of guys won’t be on the team next year, so it just didn’t make any sense. I still don’t think it will happen, but when Hunt yesterday said he called around and it looked like the Texas Bowl might be the most likely, I started thinking:

1) The game is January 4th. You get, what? 12 practices to use whenever? We could backload most of those and Kelly and staff may actually have time to implement a few things, or at the very least just be an extreme CEO HC, just deciding on timeouts and what to do on 4th downs and such.

2) Early signing day is December 15th. I’m assuming there’s dead period for a couple of weeks directly after? Could be totally wrong, though.

3) Houston has always been a very important area for LSU relative to recruiting and the huge alumni base. May not be the worst idea to be a little visible there for a few days, shake some hands, talk to some folks, and end the season with him being completely entrenched as the face of the brand of LSU football.

4) The only other person besides Dykes that I can remember who ever coached his new team in their bowl game was Brian Kelly. I don’t know the particulars, but I wonder why he chose to do that. Was it to get a feel for and assess the players coming back and maybe some staff? Or was it for them to get a taste of his style and see who takes to it and buys in?


I still don’t think it happens, because this team will be so different than the one he rolls out with in September. And there’s logistically no way it would even be possible if we make the Independence Bowl, which I think is December 17th. But late the date of the Texas Bowl—maybe against Matt Campbell and Iowa State?—presents options that may have not been really considered previously.