Brian Kelly explains why LSU has higher championship ceiling than Notre Dame

Brian Kelly has had a successful first season at LSU after over a decade at Notre Dame. His decision to leave South Bend was one of the most high-profile coaching changes of the last several seasons. Now, as he prepares to make his debut in the SEC Championship game, Kelly believes he’s right where he needs to be because of the Tiger’s ceiling.

Kelly discussed the differences he sees in the programs when it comes to the postseason earlier this week. First and foremost, he wanted to give the Fighting Irish program its due credit considering the heights he reached while leading them.

“Look, there are so many different elements. I think Notre Dame has a great opportunity as well. That’s why I was there for 12 years,” said Kelly. “We had opportunities certainly in the College Football Playoff, playing for a national championship. We were right on the doorstep of playing for championships and winning national championships.”

However, Kelly gave LSU the edge because of the advantage they have in recruiting. Notre Dame can recruit, but Kelly says they have to focus on doing it on a national level. In LSU’s case, they have a prospect hotbed right in their backyard. That recruiting advantage when it comes to Louisiana’s talent pool is why Kelly believes his current program has a better chance to compete than his former program.

“What is unique about LSU is the in-state recruiting. We didn’t have that certainly at Notre Dame,” Kelly said. “It was much more national. So you’ve got to go into each state and pull out the best players in those states at Notre Dame, whereas you have it right here in the state of Louisiana. This is the flagship university. Kids want to go to LSU. They grow up wanting to be a Tiger. There’s a bit of an advantage from that perspective right out of the gates when it comes to recruiting”

Considering the season LSU has had in just one year under Kelly, it’s hard to argue his point. He’ll be playing for an SEC Championship on Saturday and was a loss against Texas A&M away from potentially making the College Football Playoff in his inaugural run. Now, with a full year of recruiting ahead of him, we’ll get to see just how much LSU’s edge will benefit Kelly moving forward.