Brian Kelly addresses controversial ‘family’ accent when he arrived at LSU

When Brian Kelly first arrived on the scene at LSU, many had little to no confidence the hire would work out.

From an accent so bad that many perceived it to be phony to some unbelievable dance moves in videos with recruits, Kelly had a lot working against him before his team even took the field. Then, the Tigers lost their first game under his watch, and many wondered if LSU just gave a ton of money to a head coach who would never fit in.

Instead, Kelly let his team’s play on the field do the talking over the rest of the season, and a victory over Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide, coupled with an SEC title game appearance quickly turned morale around.

Still, Kelly is being asked about the accent he used when saying “Family” at an LSU basketball game when he first arrived on the scene. If you’re on the side of him faking it to try to fit in, Kelly believes you’re sorely mistaken, as he explained on Barstool Sports’ Bussin with the Boys earlier this week.

“No, I mean, who would — that’s the stupidest thing to try to do,” Kelly responded, asked if he faked the accent. “Listen, when you have a Boston accent, I mean, and you’re in the Midwest, and you go down South, you’re going to be all messed up anyway.

“I think I have a bit of a strange accent anyway. So add another one, I think it’s crazy anyway.”

Evidently, Kelly is blaming the mix of accents he’s been dealing with throughout his life, coupled with the way LSU faithful says the word for skewing his language at the time of the incident.

“You listen to people, and you start hearing ‘Family’ — it’s almost like that’s natural,” added Kelly. “That’s how you say it. I’m just trying to be like everybody else.

“Then throw your Boston accent in there too, and heck, I couldn’t tell you what was coming out of my mouth.”

Whether that’s the truth or not, it’s a pretty sound explanation for why it happened. Throw three separate accents from different parts of America in the mix and you come out with the gumbo language Kelly was speaking at that moment.

Nevertheless, Brian Kelly has put all that doubt behind him, and the future is more than bright under his watch at LSU moving forward.