You Wanted A Hit

But Maybe We Don’t Do Hits

When Scott Woodward hired Brian Kelly to be LSU’s head football coach in 2021, it was billed as a home-run hire, with the implicit selling point that “the adults are now in charge” and the program would be an even-handed ran program with a hard floor, a floor higher than his predecessors that was never to be broken.

With two games to play in year three, the “prove it” year for any head coach, here is how it is going:

• LSU opened the season 0-1 for the FIFTH straight season, making Kelly winless in season openers at LSU.
• LSU’s Kelly screams at one player, gets yelled at by another.
• LSU’s Brian Kelly has meltdown in postgame press conference.
• LSU has lost three straight games, something that hasn’t happened without the sitting head coaching getting fired since before the DiNardo tenure.
• After getting absolutely embarrassed by Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed – who the Tigers had ample film on – AND with a bye week to prepare, the LSU defense for a second straight year was unprepared to stop Jalen Milroe’s mobility.
• Despite holding two offensive lineman projected to be first round draft picks, LSU’s offense has been unable to establish a rushing game and has become entirely one-dimensional.

• In this midst of a three-game skid, LSU is wearing alternate uniforms for the second time.

When Kelly was hired, I wrote this piece saying that I would hold my nose through the cold water and give him a shot. I then wrote this piece in 2023 after the Florida State loss:

But this is the book on Brian Kelly and has been for some time: he’ll win a good amount of games, but won’t win you the really big ones with any real frequency. So far, he has lived up to the billing. The point of all this isn’t to bury Kelly or call for his firing. This is only week one and the team will continue to improve as the season rolls along, that’s kind of how the season works. He does deserve the benefit of the doubt as we continue to move through a three-year “prove it” period. But the trend of LSU being outclassed in their losses under Kelly certainly isn’t inspiring.

Then I opened this season with this piece. And the purpose of the exercise is to revisit the question I posed at the end of the column:

But last night’s loss raises more existential questions than ones about this year’s results. As we go forward, I just want to evaluate the season on one question: What about Brian Kelly leads you to believe he can win a national title at LSU? That’s why Brian Kelly was hired. That’s the expectation at LSU. That’s what the 100 million dollars are for.

Sound off in the comments.

I am not here to spike the football or unfurl an “I told you so” banner. I care as deeply about LSU football as you do and am as hurt as you are. Also like you, I have a firm expectation of winning. In the 12-team playoff era, it is frankly unacceptable under any circumstances for LSU’s season to be dead by November 16. There are no more excuses, no more staff hires that can be used as sacrificial lambs to divert the blame from the person in charge, no more “bad roster” claims to waive away at shortcomings.

And yet…

LSU will not fire Brian Kelly. LSU cannot fire Brian Kelly. LSU should not fire Brian Kelly, if for no other reason than the albatross of a buyout associated with it. We are stuck here, and will be for the foreseeable future.

Hopefully that’s enough time for the adults to get here.