Brian Kelly reveals message to team after Texas A&M loss

One week ago, LSU was gearing up for a top-5 SEC Championship matchup against No. 1 Georgia. Those College Football Playoff dreams died hard after the Tigers were trampled by an unranked Texas A&M team in College Station.

LSU head coach Brian Kelly revealed what he told his team following the loss now that their postseason goals have completely shifted.

“This is hard. They’ve been great all year. They’ve done incredible things – they changed everything they’ve ever known in terms of their routine and the way they think and their habits,” Kelly said after the TAMU loss. “… You have to do it consistently, you can’t just rely on talent. Talent has got to make plays, traits have to be present every single day. When you flip the switch to performance, you’ve got to be able to bring those (habits) with you.

“For some reason, we were just off (against Texas A&M). It’s my job to get this team prepared, and I didn’t get them prepared the way they needed to be. They were off and I’m disappointed in that.”

The Tigers dropped nine spots in the subsequent CFP Rankings, but Kelly doesn’t want that to be the defining factor of LSU’s overall successful season. In one season under Kelly’s leadership, LSU has more hype around its football program than it has at any time since the 2019 National Championship season.

LSU also has a chance to salvage what’s left of the 2022 season by defeating the Bulldogs in the SEC Championship game Saturday. Georgia can afford to lose the game – they’re in the playoffs regardless of what happens in Atlanta – while a SEC Championship for LSU would validate everything Kelly has done for the program since he arrived late last year.

Catch the SEC Championship game between the Bulldogs and Tigers when they kick off inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 4 p.m. ET live on CBS.