Lofty praise for LSU coach Brian Kelly entering first year in SEC

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“The first-year coach of the Tigers led Notre Dame to two CFP berths and a spot in a BCS National Championship Game during his 12-year tenure in South Bend, Indiana. That success came despite academic and geographic challenges that make it difficult to sustain success at an elite level with the Fighting Irish. He is 263-96-2 overall in his career (not including vacated wins) and has been named Home Depot Coach of the Year three times.”

Those career accomplishments are great in a vacuum but when discussing the elite of the elite in college football, championships talk and that’s something that Kelly not only understands but embraces. He has a blueprint in place he feels will work at LSU and one of those first steps was establishing a framework of “accountability” for how he wants everyone in the program to operate.

“I've been called a players' coach, a CEO, demanding, whatever narrative you want to come up with,” Kelly said back in December. “I think I've hit all of those. Look, I think the most important thing is you'd better have relationships with your players and you'd better know your players. You'd better know their strengths and weaknesses. You'd better be able to have the ability to reach your players and communicate with them and be demanding but never demeaning.”

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