Brian Kelly shares how Lane Kiffin has changed as a coach

LSU head coach Brian Kelly has never faced off against Lane Kiffin as a pair of SEC head coaches. However, they do have experience competing in one of college football’s premier rivalries. For three seasons, from 2010-2012, the pair competed in the annual Notre Dame–USC game. In those meetings, Kelly holds a 2-1 record. However, Kiffin was young and has grown a lot since then.

While speaking to the media, Brian Kelly was asked about Lane Kiffin as a head coach. He used it as an opportunity to praise Kiffin.

“He’s a creative coach offensively and they always have been cutting edge in terms of what they do,” Brian Kelly said. “He’s a guy that gets his team playing hard. I mean, they play hard. Offensively, there’s always an answer to what you do–in game as well.”

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“But I think, more importantly, they scout you out. I mean, you better know your own self-scouting and where your tendencies are because he’s going to really dial in on if there’s anything you do. If you do anything defensively, he’s going to analyze that and have an answer for it. So, you’ve got to be very good at your self-scout.”

Essentially, what Lane Kiffin has learned how to do over the years is find your weakest points and exploit them. He’s always been an innovative offensive play caller and designer since his time at USC. However, he’s improved in that ability to dial into his opponent’s weaknesses over the years.

Brian Kelly will have the opportunity to ruin Lane Kiffin’s unbeaten season when Ole Miss travels to Death Valley on Saturday.

Brian Kelly did a first for LSU coaches

At a school with as long a history as LSU, there are very few things a coach has never done. However, Brian Kelly figured something out. He became the first coach in school history to beat Auburn and Florida on the road in the same season.

There are a few reasons for this. Chief among them, oftentimes they play one of those teams at home in a season. Still, whether it was Nick Saban or Charles McClendon, no coach has done that. Through four claimed national championships, this has never happened. That is until Brian Kelly did it.