Brian Kelly shares what led to hire of Matt House

Brian Kelly made a splash by hiring Matt House to be LSU‘s defensive coordinator on his initial staff. House has previous SEC experience and even stepped into the NFL world during his career. Now moving into Year Two, everyone is comfortable on the Bayou and expecting big things.

First, there was some time for Kelly to reflect on hiring House last offseason. The two have faced off against each other in years prior, with House usually getting the better of Kelly. Getting the defensive coordinator on his side and attacking other SEC opponents was the goal.

“I’ve known Matt for a long period of time,” Kelly said. “I knew him way back when I was at Central Michigan. But I got to know him better going up against him when I was at Notre Dame. He was at Pitt, he was at North Carolina State. I always hated going against his defenses. They were versatile. They were difficult to read. There was unpredictability in them, and they changed from week to week. I wanted that in the SEC.”

House is a long-time college coach but prior to LSU, he was in the NFL with Kansas City. He won a Super Bowl with the Chiefs during his first season. Staying with the organization as the linebackers coach would have been an easy one, especially since their success will continue.

But House wanted to make the move back to college and when Kelly came calling, things between LSU and Kansas City got worked out.

“When you’re dealing with the NFL it’s never easy to get somebody, and you never know whether you can get them released from their contract, but with a little bit of luck and the help of Andy Reid, we were able to get him to LSU, and couldn’t be more excited because of that,” Kelly said.

Results in Year One were good. Opponents only score 22.5 points per game and struggled against House’s defense at times. Holding teams to just over 200 passing yards per game, finishing fourth in the SEC.

It’s scary to think they could improve as well. Harold Perkins will be in his second season and actually playing the linebacker position. LSU addressed the secondary in the NCAA transfer portal, bringing some experience to Baton Rouge. And then there is the return of Maason Smith, coming back to be a key part of the defensive line.

House is as talented as any defensive coordinator out there and will likely have his most talented roster ever in 2023.