Brian Kelly details his preparation for his first run through the SEC gauntlet

Saturday, Brian Kelly will do something he has only done once since 2009. He’ll coach in a conference game — and this time, instead of the American Athletic Conference, it’s in the SEC.

Kelly will coach his first SEC game as LSU head coach on Saturday when the Tigers welcome Mississippi State to Death Valley. It seems like quite a change from the independent schedules Notre Dame plays, but Kelly said that’s not the case.

He sounds ready for his first run through the SEC gauntlet.

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“The previous job I had, it was an independent schedule,” Kelly said. “It was somebody new each week, in a sense. We had non-conference games every week. It just feels normal, like, this is a new opponent. But I was so used to having new opponents on the schedule. It doesn’t feel that much different for me in terms of the preparation.

“We have advanced scouting. Our advanced scouting does a really good job of coming up with their personnel and their tendencies. It’s just a matter of how we’re going to attack offensively and defensively. But it doesn’t feel foreign to me from that perspective.”

Brian Kelly addresses his mindset entering Mississippi State week: ‘Success breeds confidence’

Brian Kelly has an interesting mindset for his LSU squad following his first win as their coach. After finding some success against Southern, Kelly is expecting that to carry over into their showdown with Mississippi State this weekend.

Speaking with the media, the Tigers leader revealed he believes his team’s confidence level will be raised at practice, and against the Bulldogs.

“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,” Kelly said. “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.

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