Brian Kelly has long been expected to carry the LSU Tigers to their first College Football Playoff appearance since their national title victory in 2019. That’s the entire purpose of bringing him over from Notre Dame. That’s the entire reason why he left the Fighting Irish, because he thought LSU would be the place in which he would be able to contend for a national title.
Suffice it to say that he hasn’t, and even the Notre Dame he left have made it, being last year’s runners-up. If things don’t change this year, Brian Kelly might find himself out of a job faster than he thinks.
That’s what 2003 LSU national champion Marcus Spears thinks. Speaking on ESPN’s “Get Up” on Tuesday, he said:
“It was great, but people still didn’t feel like that was a big-time accomplishment based on how it happened. This year, you see all of the transfers. You see the recruiting class. Garrett Nussmeier in the preseason Heisman conversation. All of those things in the past that LSU has aligned with them having big seasons. It doesn’t guarantee a championship, but it should guarantee you being a playoff contender.” (6:20)
“And if they are not, if they’re on the outside looking in at the playoffs, this fan base is going to turn quickly on Brian Kelly, and it’s almost like it’s been situations where they’ve been waiting to do it. This will be that inflection point if LSU doesn’t win big this year. I’m telling y’all what I know, not what I think,” he added.
The hype around the Tigers is real. Garrett Nussmeier is a seasoned quarterback now, who should probably be considered the best in the conference. At the moment, he has the second-best odds to win the Heisman in 2025, with odds of +850 according to BetMGM. Only Texas’s Arch Manning has better odds, with +600.
Brian Kelly praises Bernard Gooden for his work during preseason training
Over the spring, Brian Kelly’s LSU Tigers managed to get four-star defensive tackle transfer Bernard Gooden. While Gooden officially transfered from South Florida to LSU in late April, he hadn’t yet seen practice time with the Tigers.
On Monday, Kelly spoke with the press about the positive impression the player had made on him during the first week of preseason training.
“He’s doing a lot of good things,” Brian Kelly said. “You know, he brings a high motor. He’s a guy that brings energy to the group, intensity to the group. I think that’s bringing up everybody in terms of the competition level.”
The LSU Tigers are set to open up their season by playing on the road against the Clemson Tigers of Dabo Swinney on Aug. 30 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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