Brian Kelly: I love beatin' Alabama

LSU head coach Brian Kelly stirred the pot on Tuesday afternoon. Big time.

Speaking at the Houston Touchdown Club, Kelly was happy to see a Tiger-friendly audience. And according to the Houston Chronicle’s Brent Zwerneman, Kelly took a shot at SEC West rival Alabama for good measure.

“I love the environment of a college stadium. I love coming out on that field,” Kelly said. “I love beatin’ Alabama.”

LSU, of course, beat Alabama, 32-31 in Kelly’s first season as head coach in 2022. In overtime and playing at home, Kelly made the call to go for a 2-point conversion in the first overtime. His boldness was rewarded as Jayden Daniels connected with Mason Taylor for the conversion to give the Tigers a signature moment and win in Year 1.

But now it’s clear the LSU coach — who returns much of a team that won the SEC West a year ago — wants wins over Alabama and Nick Saban to be a regular occurrence. LSU can certainly rise to that level, though Saban and his Crimson Tide squad will certainly make their rebuttal heard on the field come Nov. 4, when the Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa this season.

Kelly thinks LSU is closer to competing for an SEC title than a year ago

After making the SEC Championship Game in Year 1, LSU ran into the buzzsaw that was Georgia. However, a season later, expectations are quickly growing in Baton Rouge.

Now, Kelly has analyzed the chances that LSU can compete for the SEC.

“Well, I think we’re getting closer to that,” Brian Kelly said. “I think, you know, clearly the area of concern for us is in depth. We’re not at 85 scholarship players, yet. We’re below that line. So, two or three key injuries puts us in a very difficult position.”

Kelly explained that it’s unlikely to play a season without injuries. So, you need to be prepared for them and LSU isn’t at that place yet.

“We should be able, in the SEC West, to sustain some key injuries to key players. I don’t believe we’re at that point, yet. If we, knock on wood, stay injury free and continue to develop, we’re gonna be fine. But, that’s not where you want to be in this league. You have to, I think, go into a season and expect to lose some key players and still win this league,” Kelly said.

“So, I think that’s probably our Achilles’ Heel, if you will, is that we’re still not at 85 scholarship players and it’s still going to require us to keep this team injury free.”