Tyrann Mathieu weighs in on Brian Kelly hire, dance moves

With a new deal officially inked with the New Orleans Saints, former LSU Tigers standout Tyrann Mathieu is back where it all began.

Mathieu has been active in his LSU alumni activities so far with new head coach Brian Kelly on campus. Now that he’s back in the state of Louisiana, it’s likely that he’ll be a very familiar face in Baton Rouge in the fall.

“It’s always good to get back to Baton Rouge,” Mathieu told Rich Eisen when he called into the show this week. “I’m hoping I can talk to the team more and be around those guys more because there’s so much talent in that Tigers building.”

Eisen asked the former Kansas City star and Super Bowl winner if he could help Kelly with his dance moves, recounting the legendary Notre Dame coach’s viral Griddy dance when he first arrived at LSU.

“BK is cooler than people give him credit for, man, he’s a cool dude,” Mathieu insisted to Eisen. “He’s definitely a bright mind, he’s smart. I’m not a great dancer neither, that’s why I never Griddy or nothing like that. Justin Jefferson and all those young boys, let them get their dance on.”

Mathieu did not need to be ‘sold’ on New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints had an easy negotiating process with new safety addition Tyrann Mathieu. The former Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro told reporters in his introductory press conference that the team had to do very little work to sell him on returning to his hometown.

“When I watch this defense, they pop off the screen. Just with energy and passion, and all the different handshakes that they do. It’s fun and it’s exciting,” Mathieu said after signing his new contract. “He didn’t really have to sell me too much, I was already sold. I just needed a couple of people to kinda give me the, ‘yeah, that’s cool, we’ll take you over here.’”

Mathieu signed a three-year, $33 million deal with the Saints out of free agency. It’s not the biggest contract of his career but he’s still averaging a top-15 salary amongst safeties.

The almost-30-year-old is coming off of a strong year for the Chiefs. He made 76 total tackles, three interceptions, three fumble recoveries, and a sack. He led the defense in tackles and interceptions. As a captain, he helped lead Kansas City to the AFC championship game – where they lost to the Cincinnati Bengals.