Brian Kelly addresses the quote circulating of him saying LSU would 'beat the heck' out of Florida State

Brian Kelly’s viral quote came back to bite him when LSU in fact did not “beat the heck out of Florida State” over the weekend, losing 45-24.

The Tigers’ head coach said as much on his coach’s show going into game week. Whether or not it was taken out of context, as Kelly spoke on the air and to a crowd at TJ Ribs in Baton Rouge, it was said.

Kelly was asked about it, under the guise that it was taken out of context.

“I have no idea,” Kelly said. “I mean, look, I think you all know me. I’m pretty careful with what I say and how I say it. Never have I been cavalier or disrespectful to any opponent in my 33 years. So if somebody wants to prop up a comment like that and inflate into something that it is not, that’s what social media is about today.

“But I have nothing but the utmost respect for Coach [Mike] Norvell. I know who the opponent was. It’s just not in my background or nature to make those kinds of comments.”

Mike Norvell seemingly responded to Kelly’s original comments after the game Sunday.

“It’s good to be able to play the game,” Norvell said with a smile.

Wide receiver Keon Coleman appeared to do the same, jokingly saying: “Where he say that at? I don’t recall. I didn’t see anything at all.”

Brian Kelly’s ‘beat the heck out of Florida State’ circles back

However, Kelly did say it to LSU play-by-play broadcaster Chris Blair last Thursday on his weekly coach’s show. He was asked about the efficiency of LSU’s practices compared to last year.

While Kelly talked about being in a good position in Year 2 of his tenure, the comments were seemingly thrown into an answer that maybe was intended to be entirely different.

“I think we’re in a really good position in Year 2,” Kelly said on the show, via the Lafayette Daily Advertiser. “Look, I will say that there are some areas that still need to be improved. We’re going to take 15 freshmen on this trip and 14 transfers, so nearly 40% of this travel roster are going to go overnight for the first time with LSU, and that’s not a disclaimer of any kind. We’re going to go beat the heck out of Florida State. But what I’m saying is, we’re still developing our football team.”

So after Kelly’s initial answer about Florida State, the same member of the media scrum at Tuesday’s press conference asked him to clarify.

“Yeah, it’s just like I said, the position of head coach or any leadership position, you’re gonna get things thrown out there that are absolutely untrue, and you have no way to combat them,” Kelly said. “Because you can just sometimes just throw stuff out there and hope it sticks. But that’s not something that I would ever say.”

Well, it was certainly the end of a long weekend for LSU after a loss. Kelly and the Tigers return home Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET to take on Grambling State.