Steve Spurrier addresses Brian Kelly, Chris Hilton spat: 'Usually you don't do that'

Legendary college football coach Steve Spurrier never shied away from getting after his players, in particular his quarterbacks. Spurrier recently shared that he had a method to his criticisms.

“I learned way back, if I had to get on my quarterback, ‘Come here.’ And I’d look into the ground and say, ‘You’ve gotta start playing a lot damn better or we’re going to get our ass beat’ or something like that, without getting in his face,” Steve Spurrier revealed recently on Another Dooley Noted Podcast. “‘Now get back in there and do it.’ And then give him a pat on the back.”

LSU head coach Brian Kelly used a different technique during Saturday’s game against Florida. Kelly was seen yelling at multiple players on the sideline, including receiver Chris Hilton Jr.

Steve Spurrier didn’t love the way Kelly handled his frustration with his players.

“Even during the game, the TV, they show the head coach on the sideline. And he was over there getting on his quarterback and some other guys and blah blah blah, blah blah blah,” Steve Spurrier said. “But he’d get in their face a little bit, which, I don’t know. Usually you don’t do that.”

It’s understandable that Brian Kelly was frustrated. The Tigers had aspirations of making the College Football Playoff a month ago, but they have now dropped three straight games.

Those frustrations led to a few blowups on the sideline on Saturday. Brian Kelly was asked about the incidents with Chris Hilton Jr., as well as Kyren Lacy, during an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show on Tuesday.

“We were having a coaching moment with one of my wide receivers, you know, who is desperately wanting to make big plays for us,” Brian Kelly said of Chris Hilton. “That’s all he thinks about. And he’s pressing a little bit.

“So, you know, having a conversation with him on the sideline to help him through that. But you’ve gotta understand, this is the emotion of the game that is happening at the same time.”

As for Kyren Lacy: “Then we had another player that wanted the football. And I love that about our players. Any competitor wants the football,” Brian Kelly said. “But again, you have to be able to measure it by making sure that the emotion doesn’t take over for what you’re trying to accomplish at the time.”

While Brian Kelly explained his reasoning for the sideline blow ups, Steve Spurrier still didn’t love it.