Brian Kelly sly on transfer portal window, spring practice schedule

Spring practice is underway in Baton Rouge and LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly has now decided to shake up the team’s practice schedule. Those changes could impact the Transfer Portal. However, when asked about that, Kelly was sly about his logic.

The Spring practice schedule is basically going to have two practices moved. The first is the Friday before Spring Break. The other is the Monday after. They’ll be moved to the final week, following the Spring scrimmage and the week that the transfer portal opens.

“I will give you one news item,” Brian Kelly said. “We’ve decided to move two practices. The 28th, next Friday, and then when we get back from Spring Break on April 7th, we’re going to move both of those practices to the following week, after our Spring scrimmage. So, we’ll continue to practice that Tuesday and Thursday after that Spring scrimmage that we have. So, elongating, taking more time with the team, taking all of our — I guess you would say maximum allotted time of 34 days to get those practices in.”

The Spring transfer window opens on April 16th and will run through April 25th. It’s a brief window to enter and find a new team ahead of Fall. However, now, LSU has moved practices to the same week the portal opens. Kelly was asked about that, and if the decision was related, but he chose to joke about not knowing the dates instead.

“Is it? The portal opens that week? Huh,” Kelly said wryly. “I didn’t know that. You guys can decide what that means.”

Beyond just when the portal opens, Brian Kelly did have some logic to the decision. He wanted to replicate a game week and he also wanted to avoid poor practice performances related to Spring Break.

“But for us it was we’re going on Spring Break that Friday and I didn’t want a distracted group on that Friday. Then, we come back and we had four practices in that final week, thinking that we were going to be in a game mode situation,” Kelly said. “So let’s have four practices like we would during the year. But, we’re not in that mode. So, we’ll take that Monday away, which same old deal, who really thinks they’re gonna be their best coming out of Spring Break on that Monday? So, now, we’ve recouped those two days on the back end and have two really solid practice days the following week.”

Notably, Brian Kelly has also canceled LSU’s traditional Spring Game this season. Instead, on April 12th, the team is hosting an open practice.