Louisiana State University
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Nickname: Tigers
Type of School: Public Land Grant Research University
Mascot: “Mike the Tiger VIII” (Bengal-Siberian mix)
Total student body: 42,016 (Fall 2024)
University Established: 1860
Football Stadium: Tiger Stadium
Capacity: 102,321
Team Colors: Purple and Gold
I want to start this post off with a confession. I grew up 75 miles north of New Orleans, in south Mississippi, and there are a lot of Cajun & Creole people there, and that culture is everywhere. There are as many LSU fans there as there are fans of any of the MS schools, so I have always been acutely aware of the goings on in Baton Rouge. Outside of Mississippi State, I would say that I pull for LSU next. Now having said (or typed) all of that, I just don’t get the Brian Kelly thing.
I never understood LSU going after him so hard and paying him so much with what was so obvious to me. He didn’t win a National Championship at Central Michigan, Cincinnati, or Notre Dame. Surely, for a coach with his qualities, he should be able to win a championship when he has the recruiting inside track to EVERY single Catholic kid in the country! But nope, he got close in 2 of his 22 years in charge and lost both of those title games.
When he has his micro temper tantrums in press conferences where he, time and time again, blames everyone but himself. I don’t feel like he understands “the buck stops with him”. After the loss to USC last year in week 1, he said “We’re sitting here AGAIN and talking about the same things.” How does that not scream out, I didn’t fix an issue that everyone knew was there from the year before and I’m shocked! Also, if you watched the Netflix documentary series “SEC Football: Any Given Saturday”, he actually said “I have my life, mortgage, and everything associated with 18- to 21-year-olds. What, am I crazy?” I remember thinking “Did he just say to the world that I must be stupid trusting my professional wellbeing to the kids that I have recruited, promised to teach, and mentor?” In the same episode he yells at his team “If you want to come out here and go half speed, go ahead. I’m going fucking in! Is that clear? If you guys wanna go half-speed, let me know now. You’re wasting my time. Get your asses going!” To me, this is a man that is telling these college aged kids, “If you don’t show the effort I want to see in practice, I’m going to take my ball and go home, maybe stomp my feet, and hold my breath.” I feel like this mindset and behavior at press conferences is what you might expect from a toddler.
I lived in Massachusetts for over 5 years, and I get that many people from there have an inherent superiority complex, but when you’re a head coach in the SEC and you make almost $10M a year, you just sound like a baby that the pressure is getting the better of.
Lastly (on this subject), I have to address the press conference after the Florida game. When a reporter asked about the offense, Kelly loses his mind and says “Stop, really? Is that the first question? We won the game!”, etc. I would love to know what he feels was wrong with the question. Their defense had 5 interceptions, and they won by ONLY 10 points. They rushed for 96 yards on 25 attempts and the “last play of the game” that he alluded to, accounted for 51 yards of the 96! Also, they were 4 for 14 on third down and they only had 10 first downs in the entire game! Why would these questions be so offensive to this guy? Someone, please let me know!
As for week 5, I believe that Ole Miss will beat LSU in Oxford. It could be a hard-fought win for the Rebels or a 40-point blowout. Either way, I believe it will be a long bus ride back to Baton Rouge for the Tigers!
I can’t for the life of me understand why Ryan Clark of ESPN is so incensed that Ole Miss is a 1.5-point favorite at home. This kills me to say, as a MS State guy, but Ole Miss is really good. They are averaging 543 yards/game and 44.8 points/game with a backup QB. They have already played 2 SEC opponents and LSU’s win against Clemson in week 1 doesn’t feel the same as it did before they were 1-3.