Brian Kelly on changes to LSU defense: 'We're gonna look at everything'

Through three weeks in the 2024 season, the LSU defense ranks just 91st in total defense and 94th in scoring defense. That’s not going to cut it if the Tigers want to contend for an SEC title.

Coach Brian Kelly knows it. He vowed this week to leave no stone unturned when it comes to fixing the defense.

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“We’re going to look at everything, and we’re still in that process of evaluating everything,” Kelly said. “In terms of what we’re coaching, how we’re coaching it, what players need to be on the field in certain situations, what does our offense look like in certain situations.

“All of that needs to be looked at carefully.”

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LSU gave up nearly 400 yards of offense to South Carolina, surrendering 398 in the contest. Of course, much of it came on chunk plays, like a 75-yard touchdown run by quarterback LaNorris Sellers.

Bottom line, it needs to be better. But Kelly isn’t willing to share what changes he might be making going forward at LSU.

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“I think we’ve done a deep dive on all of it, but I’m not ready to kind of publicly talk about what we’re going to be doing moving forward,” he said.

LSU insider shares key insight defensively

The big issue for the Tigers, one LSU insider said, is allowing too many explosive plays like the long Sellers run.

“Outside of that run in the first half, they had held [Sellers] to nine carries for 13 yards,” said Shea Dixon of The Bengal Tiger on a recent On3 Roundtable discussion. “He was at 50% passing. He had turned the ball over once on an interception. He had turned the ball over on a fumble. So they were getting after him to the point where we have not seen an LSU defense force turnovers yet and actually capitalize.

“At the same time, you can’t give up those huge plays that sort of feel like back-breakers at times.”

Is there enough that LSU can fix that the defense can truly be shored up going forward? That seems like a bit more of a debate.

Dixon wasn’t quite sure.

“I think there’s a little bit of everything mixed in and this happens. You’ve got a first-year defensive coordinator in Blake Baker who proved his worth at Missouri. … He’s a great coach. It’s still first year,” Dixon said. “Remember, everybody on this defensive staff was fired from a year ago. So everybody on this defensive staff is working through the first few games with a defense that’s by and large the same defense they had a year ago. There’s not a bunch of new pieces out there that you’ve got to work with.

“I’m really looking in Year 4 of (Brian Kelly), ‘Hey, this is when they’ve got a chance to be a lot better at DB. Maybe a lot better at D-line.’ And those are the two deficient spots for them right now. I’m not sure anything other than development and coaching is going to change that. … I think we kind of know what they have now. … I’m telling LSU fans, expect a lot more of these types of games.”