Paul Finebaum: Greg Brooks Jr. lawsuit, allegations are a 'real concern' for Brian Kelly

In the wake of an ugly back-and-forth between LSU coach Brian Kelly and the family of former safety Greg Brooks Jr., ESPN personality Paul Finebaum believes the Tigers have a real issue on their hands.

Tensions boiled over and spilled into the realm of public comment last week, when the family of Brooks accused Kelly of being absent in the recovery process dating back to October 2023.

Brian Kelly denied those claims, saying he had been quite present.

But the whole thing left a dark cloud over the program as the two parties went back and forth.

“It’s a real concern because that was a situation I remember well, as everyone does, where you had a young man who became very ill,” Finebaum explained. “I don’t know the facts of that. I do know lawsuits. And there’s a lot of stuff thrown up against the wall, so I’m hesitant to get too deep into those woods without knowing any more facts.”

What the ESPN personality does know is that Brian Kelly has to sort through the mess. It won’t be easy, with families of prospective recruits tuned in closely to make sure they’re doing what’s best for their children.

“Kelly has to navigate that,” Finebaum said. “Because I think he probably did have the most momentum after a bad season, he made up for it.”

Brian Kelly had a strong run of things in the transfer portal following his third season in charge of the Tigers. LSU, with a returning quarterback in Garrett Nussmeier, is set to launch into 2025 with some momentum.

The Greg Brooks Jr. situation obviously complicates things.

In September 2023, Brooks was forced to undergo emergency surgery to remove a tumor stemming from a rare form of brain cancer known as medulloblastoma. He was then forced to step away from the team and battle his newfound health condition.

A little over a year later, Brooks would sue LSU and its medical center. That was related to their alleged handling of him within the program and with these procedures, which reportedly led to multiple strokes, as they left him ‘permanently disabled.’ He now undergoes daily therapy to relearn how to write, speak, and eat, according to the lawsuit.

“Greg. Jr. looks forward to having his day in court, where the truth will come to light, and in the meantime, he will be focusing on his health and recovery,” the statement concluded.

Brian Kelly responded in kind to recent allegations that he hadn’t been present for Brooks during the recovery.

“There’s many things I can’t say because it is pending litigation, obviously,” Kelly said. “But here’s what I can tell you. It is factually incorrect to state that I was not there by Greg’s side through this ordeal. I was there on multiple occasions. We had somebody from my staff that was there virtually every single day. …

“You can question me as a football coach. You can question me in terms of the things that we do on the field. But off the field, as a parent, as a husband, as somebody that is actively involved in every community that I’ve been involved with, this is where the line is drawn with me. That comment struck a nerve with me. It hit my heart. Because that’s not why I’m in this business. I’ve been in it for our players, will always be in it for our players. It rattled me that somebody could possibly be so factually incorrect in stating that I was not part of Greg Brooks Jr.’s care and support. The support was the entire university, the entire community. I needed to make sure that record was clear.”