Brian Kelly addresses challenging week after Florida loss, Bryce Underwood decommitment

It was a long week for LSU head coach Brian Kelly. In Week 12, the Tigers suffered their third-straight loss, falling 27-16 to Florida. Only five days later, the No. 1 prospect in the 2025 class, Bryce Underwood, flipped his commitment from LSU to Michigan.

On Saturday, LSU rebounded from its string of misfortunes with a 24-17 win over Vanderbilt. After the game, Kelly discussed how Underwood’s decision earlier in the week affected the team.

“The recruiting doesn’t mean a whole heck of a lot when you’re talking about your football team in the present,” Kelly said. “Everybody else certainly felt differently about that recruiting piece, but that didn’t really affect our players, nor the coaches.

“You’re disappointed because you’ve put many, many years into recruiting. But it really didn’t affect the core of what we wanted to accomplish. And that was, we wanted to finish this football game, and we finished taking a knee on the 10-yard line. And that’s how you want to finish a football game.”

LSU played well in the victory, amassing 474 yards of total offense. Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier was a standout, completing 28-of-his-37 pass attempts for 332 yards and a touchdown without throwing an interception.

Despite Nussmeier’s spectacular performance, LSU fans won’t be able to help but wonder what would’ve been possible with Bryce Underwood under center next season. After all, Underwood had been committed to LSU since Jan. 6.

Alas, with Underwood’s high school only a 30-minute drive from Michigan Stadium, the Wolverines stayed in contact with the highly-touted recruit. Of course, proximity wasn’t the only persuading factor in Underwood’s change of heart.

Michigan reportedly offered Underwood an NIL deal north $10.5 million, according to On3’s The Wolverine. Amid the countless reports and rumors around Underwood’s decision, Brian Kelly claims his team remained focused on the task at hand.

“The noise was there but you’re gonna get noise at LSU when you lose three games in a row but it wasn’t because of our guys not being committed and they showed that commitment this week,” Kelly said.

LSU will look to show off its resolve once more this regular season as it squares off against Oklahoma on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ESPN.