Brian Kelly on Lane Kiffin's LSU gamble: 'At least you know what you're getting'
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Brian Kelly knows the intersection of culture, politics, sports and LSU all too well.
He remembers receiving an invitation to one of Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry’s biggest fundraisers — a “gator-tagging event” — amidst LSU’s own preseason football camp.
Kelly is not at all surprised LSU’s attempt to play athletes who had spent time in NFL training camps has become intertwined with all things… Louisiana.
“Boy, it’s a lot,” Kelly exclusively told USA TODAY Sports on Friday, Sept. 4. “I think you kind of answered it in the question: they’re all wrapped in together. There’s no separation of church and state, if you will, in Louisiana. It all works together. The politics are involved. The fanbase is influential. Maybe that’s not unique, but in the state of Louisiana, all of that culture is wrapped together with athletics, the university and politics. It makes it difficult to operate at times.”
Kelly is monitoring the situation at LSU, which includes player Junior Tuihalamaka, a former commitment to Kelly’s Notre Dame program, and the landscape nationally involving athletes — some with pro experience — seeking a return to college.
“Early on, I thought it was much ado about nothing because it was not going to affect anybody anymore after this year,” Kelly said. “Certainly you don’t have any of those guys (currently enrolled as student-athletes) not covered by the NCAA in the five-year window. I thought this was just going to be a bit of controversy and it would go away once the season started because you would never have to go through this again.
“Obviously, it’s gotten much bigger because it was pushed so hard, from the temporary restraining orders to the state and local government involvement. Now, it’s forced conferences and presidents to align together to create now, which is a shoot-out at the OK Corral. Who’s going to win? It never needed to get to this point. And, unfortunately, it has.”
Kelly, however, isn’t surprised this is the M.O. of Lane Kiffin, hired as Kelly’s replacement at LSU and set for his debut in charge of the Tigers on Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) when they host Dabo Swinney and Clemson.
He’s faced Kiffin eight times on opposing sidelines, four apiece when Kelly helmed Notre Dame and LSU and Kiffin coached USC and Ole Miss.
“The only time I talked to Lane is when he tried to buy my house,” said Kelly, working this fall as a TV analyst for CBS but also open to a return to college coaching. “Lane operates in his lane, and that’s who he is. It’s who I’ve always known.
“Lane operates in the way he wants to do things. From that perspective, at least you know what you’re getting.”
In Kiffin, LSU is getting the self-proclaimed “Portal King,” an unapologetic, win-at-all-costs polarizing figure whom Kelly sees fitting changes at LSU that he witnessed during his almost-four year run.
“There was a complete vacuum for me in terms of who was instrumental in bringing me there; I didn’t get to know Gov. Landry and the new university president (Wade Rousse) was only on board a short time,” said Kelly, the rare coach to earn National Coach of the Year honors at both the NCAA’s D-II level (twice) and its top echelon, FBS, three times.
“What I can tell you from my firsthand knowledge is that there was separation [in vision]. There was alignment in terms of what we were trying to do there early, increase APR (LSU set a record with a perfect 1,000 score under Kelly), accountability towards the academic piece and building a program.
“That certainly wasn’t the priority later there. It was much more about winning in terms of that was the most important thing. That was where the change came with new leadership and certainly the governor.”
Is there a scenario where Kelly, who on college football fields has won more than 300 games as head coach, returns to coaching next season and considers rostering a player with NFL or professional experience already gone from the college game?
“No,” Kelly said, succinctly.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brian Kelly on Lane Kiffin's LSU gamble: 'At least you know what you're getting'
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