Brian Kelly explains how he's using fight during practice as a teaching moment

Things got testy at LSU‘s fall camp practice on Monday as multiple reports revealed a fight broke out between the offense and defense during the 11-on-11 period of practice. Wide receivers Malik Nabers and Kyren Lacy were reportedly sent to the locker room following the brawl, and star linebacker Harold Perkins did not partake in another snap of practice following the incident.

LSU head coach Brian Kelly was apparently seen having a one-on-one conversation with Perkins following the practice, and on Tuesday, Kelly was asked what was discussed.

“We were talking about his NIL,” Kelly said. “I think he was trying to get a John Deere NIL and I think the two linemen already have one and he thought that was probably a good idea not to get one.”

Offensive linemen Will Campbell and Emery Jones have recently inked deals with the manufacturing company, and whether Kelly and Perkins’ conversation after practice was really about name, image, and likeness will likely stay in-house. But Kelly did open up shortly after about the incident and the lessons that can be learned from it.

“Everything that happens out there are teaching moments. That’s so far behind me, yesterday, because they’re 18 to 21-year-olds and so this morning there were so many teaching moments down here in this hallway, in this locker room that I forgot about yesterday,” Kelly explained. “So you deal with what happens in front of you and you try to bring everything back to what your process is and what you’re trying to develop in your program.”

Fights at practices are bound to happen given the physical and competitive nature of football, as Kelly even admitted that a similar altercation can likely still happen again in the future during fall camp. But according to Kelly, the key is using those moments, and all moments, and as a moment for himself and his staff to teach and for his players to learn.

“They’ll be moments like that similarly in a couple of days that I’ll have to deal with that maybe you won’t see, but every day in my life as a coach is a teaching experience,” Kelly said. “And so you better take your chance to teach while that happens, and so we made it a teaching moment.”

Hopefully, the Tigers learn from their mistakes made on Monday, but also channel and carry that edge and fire displayed into the season, as they look to improve on their impressive first year under Kelly from a season ago.