Brian Kelly expects LSU to be 'very aggressive' in portal, explains why they weren't last year

LSU coach Brian Kelly wants fans to know that his approach to the transfer portal this offseason will be much different. The Tigers were one of the least active teams in the SEC last season, tying Georgia for the fewest amount of transfer additions in the conference with nine.

However, with the team sitting at 7-4 entering the final week of the regular season, Kelly realizes the need to improve the roster. He vowed that LSU will be “very aggressive” this year in terms of addressing its needs to prepare for the 2025 season.

“I think everybody that’s followed us knows that we weren’t very aggressive in the transfer portal,” he said. “We put together a defensive line using minimal resources. We’ve really put ourself in a position — and I’ll use this term loosely — to stay well under the cap so we could be quite aggressive this year and we will be very aggressive in that area as well as bringing in 16 mid-years.

“We think that the program in terms of the culture and the standards are such that we can do that now where we can bring in 16 freshmen and maybe, if not one of the largest transfer portal classes as well.”

LSU brought in 18 transfers through the portal during Kelly’s first season, including future Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Jayden Daniels. However, that number has decreased every year since.

The coach explained that things simply didn’t set up for the Tigers budget wise to make a big splash in the portal over the past two seasons. However, they’re on track to have the capability to attack in a big way this year.

“All of them are strategic decisions that you make from year to year,” Kelly said. “It just didn’t present for us in the manner that we felt like we were going to reach last year on some things. I think at the time when we were looking at players that made sense for us, they duplicated a lot of things. We don’t have that duplication in the program any more. So that’s why in certain areas we’ll be very aggressive.”

The transfer portal opens on Dec. 9 and will close on Dec. 28, giving LSU a little more than two weeks to capitalize in the winter window. Offensive and defensive line are just a couple of area where it might look to bring in help.