re: Brian Kelly talks about why he called out Kayshon Boutte in the media earlier this year

quote:

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I’m not saying to get rid of him. I’m just refuting the post that said he was being a team player.

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Haven’t read all 7 pages of the thread so maybe it’s been addressed, but I feel like a lot of folks seem to forget that not every great talent is a great leader or even a great teammate.

The best of the best - see guys like Burrow, TM7 (after he got his shite together), Devin White, etc. - have both. But that’s why they are the best of the best. Most “good” players fall somewhere in between on both scales, with the tangibles and intangibles both contributing to those players’ overall success.

Leadership skills and ball skills both have to be learned to some extent. Brian Kelly’s job is to maximize both. If he can kick Boutte’s arse into gear and turn him into a better teammate/leader, that’s a great success for both Kelly and Boutte.

On the other hand, if Boutte fails to turn that corner and never becomes a great teammate/leader, it doesn’t make him a useless or bad player - it just means he’s not maximizing his potential.

I think most people get that, but there’s a vocal contingent who seem to think every good/productive player in LSU history has been a “team” guy with Andre Anthony’s intangibles. It’s just not true at LSU or any other successful program. We certainly want those guys, but we don’t need to tell every talented player who doesn’t have those intangibles to kick rocks. Brian Kelly’s job is finding that balance and (hopefully) developing our players to have both qualities.