Brian Kelly flashes tackling ability during drill demonstration at recent LSU camp
Many may not know that before Brian Kelly was the LSU Tigers‘ head football coach, he was a linebacker at Division II Assumption University. And recently at an LSU football camp, Kelly showed off some of those skills from his playing days.
Kelly and his wife Paqui helped put on the second-annual Golden Cleats Combine for women at LSU through their foundation the Kelly Cares Foundation. Over $100,000 was raised in the process through the event, but Coach Kelly maneuvering over hurdles, running around a hoop, and tackling a dummy was priceless.
“I’m a defensive player really by heart,” Kelly said after his demonstration, as he channeled his inner Harold Perkins in a hilarious light-hearted moment that can be seen below.
Kelly may want to lower his pad level and keep running his feet through contact, but his tackle was definitely the highlight play that Tigers’ fans didn’t know they needed in their lives until now.
Kelly hasn’t only been making an impact off the field during his short tenure thus far with the Tigers, but on the field as well. He was named LSU’s 33rd head coach in November of 2021 and immediately hit the ground running, securing the No. 4 ranked recruiting class in the conference in 2022 according to On3’s Industry Team Rankings.
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Multiple members of that class ended up being major contributors to the Tigers last season, with a school record and league-leading six freshmen named to the All-SEC Freshman Team.
Along with quickly developing young talent, Kelly led the Tigers to an impressive 10-4 record in his first season at the helm. The Tigers secured the SEC West division title for the first time since their 2019 National Championship run, appearing in the SEC Championship where they fell to the eventual back-to-back nation champion Georgia Bulldogs.
They would end the season on a high note, making easy work of Purdue in the Citrus Bowl defeating the Boilermakers 63-7 to secure their third double-digit win season in the last five years and their first under Kelly.
There’s no question that Kelly has gotten off to a strong start to his tenure in Baton Rouge, as he’d laid a solid foundation for the Tigers’ program to continue building off of. And hopefully, he can continue maintain his success on and off the field and tackle any challenges that care thrown his way.