Brian Kelly: LSU has done 'too many good things' to bench starters, fire coordinators

Brian Kelly isn’t ready to start from scratch after a few unfortunate outcomes. During an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, the LSU head coach explained why it’s important to not have knee-jerk reactions to losses.

“When you don’t have the outcomes that everybody wants, the first reaction is, ‘How do we change it? What do we do to change it?'” Kelly said. “Because they don’t have the inside information on the day-to-day of what’s going on here, so [they think] the best way to change it is to get rid of people. Get rid of the coach. Get rid of the play-caller. Bench the player. But there’s so much more to that.

“Clearly, in this instance, we’ve done too many good things in building this football program that we’re not going to panic. We’re going to stick with our process. We’re going to get better at the things that I’ve mentioned to you in our conversation.”

On Saturday, LSU suffered a stunning 27-16 upset loss to Florida. It was the Tigers’ third-straight loss, with previous defeats coming against Alabama and Texas A&M.

LSU’s front five struggled to stop Florida’s defensive assault, allowing quarterback Garrett Nussmeier to be sacked seven times. For reference, that’s more sacks in a single game than LSU gave up in its first nine games combined.

In general, LSU had trouble converting on opportunities. The Tigers outgained the Gators by over 50 yards, yet lost by double-digits. On Monday, Kelly emphasized how frustrated the team is as well during these trying times.

“The most important thing is that we feel the same pain that everybody in this state of Louisiana feels,” Kelly said. “We’re going to be tireless in our preparation, in making sure that we get this thing moving in the right direction.”

Any hope LSU still had of reaching the College Football Playoff dissipated with the loss. Nonetheless, the Tigers can still finish the season strong. LSU will face off against Vanderbilt and Oklahoma in its final two games — two quality, but beatable opponents.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, even if they win both games and their subsequent bowl game, they will not reach 10 wins this season; the first time LSU has failed to do so since Brian Kelly took over the program.