Brian Kelly addresses challenge of playing a conference schedule

As the long-time head coach at Notre Dame, Brian Kelly isn’t used to playing a conference schedule. Now that he’s in the SEC as the LSU head coach, he’s going to need to adjust, though. In fact, Kelly is now staring down the SEC West, widely considered to be the best division in college football.

For Brian Kelly, this is a great opportunity, to compete for a conference championship. However, it’s also a challenge he hasn’t consistently dealt with, outside of the pandemic-adjusted season, for more than a decade.

“Having the opportunity to play for a conference championship is – I enjoyed, certainly, when we had that opportunity at Notre Dame that one year during COVID,” Brian Kelly said on Wednesday’s SEC Coaches’ Teleconference. “It certainly gives you more to look forward to other than just playing for a national championship every year, which was quite unique.”

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“Adding this to the goal chart makes each SEC game more special. And then you’re upping your competition. We loved the opportunity to Southern – a cross-town rival against an HBCU school – but when you get into SEC play, it heightens everybody’s awareness,” Brian Kelly said.

“Answering the question, I would say love the opportunity to be in a conference, especially one like the SEC that there’s – the West is the side that’s a challenge each and every week. I know our guys are excited about it.”

First up for Brian Kelly is going to be Mississippi State, who LSU plays on Saturday.

Brian Kelly on his mindset ahead of Mississippi State

Brian Kelly’s first SEC game is against Mike Leach and the Mississippi State Bulldogs. He explained his mindset ahead of this game.

“Every game that they play, our guys, is going to be an opportunity for growth. You want that growth to happen through success. Success obviously breeds confidence. Confidence then is an accelerator in what you’re doing. Everybody can move forward. Everybody tends to question themselves if the outcomes aren’t right. So yes to your question, but we’re not going into the game look at it from that perspective. Really, I’m going into this game with the challenge of how we prepare differently this week with such a, we have to have a better week of preparation than we did last week. The competition is keener and better, we have to get our guys to elevate that preparation. That’s what I’ll be looking for,” Brian Kelly said.

“If we get that, we’ll play much better and the outcome will probably be where we need it to be.”