Joe Sloan on “That Kid Jayden” - “He came here with no promises”

First off, if you haven’t seen the 4-part series LSU put out about Jayden Daniels.. go watch it!

That Kid Jayden

In part one, Joe Sloan says the following shortly after the intro: “I mean coming to LSU, there were other opportunities for him. He came here with no promises and an opportunity to compete, and he always - he challenged himself that way.”

I know this was a big talking point last year and it continued into the off-season after Jayden announced his return. Many people felt strongly that Jayden must have been promised the starting job when he transferred here. That obviously died down over this season, but I continue to see it suggested periodically (especially as it relates to any future transfers).

Other relevant comments from the first video:

Daniels in his July 2022 pre-season interview: “..after leaving my last school where I was the starter, obviously to come here and hopefully start and, you know, compete at the highest level..”

Daniels in a more recent interview conducted for these videos: “When I was named the starter it was kind of like, just, a joy and - you know - just that relief of knowing that I can come here and no matter what in my life I’m going to be able to compete. And then at the end of the day if I bet on myself the odds are good.”

There’s a little more commentary from Denbrock and Kelly, but y’all get the idea.

Then there’s Brian Kelly’s commentary from his Tuesday press conference about how he addresses potential transfers with other players in the QB room. He said:

“This is a world that we live in that has got to be handled with transparency. If not, you know, you’re gonna find yourself without the right personnel. So if we were to ever do anything in the transfer portal relative to a quarterback, we’re talking to everybody in that room. We’re talking to recruits, we’re talking to everybody. It’s about transparency. It’s about honesty,…”

I am of the opinion that this staff is not making any promises to anyone in the portal. I think guys are being told they’ll have to come in and compete. There may be other coaches that are willing to make those types of promises, but I don’t expect it from coaches with a lot of experience and success. As soon as anyone else finds out, it completely undermines his messages about transparency and accountability.

What say tRant? Am I just naive?