Brian Kelly, LSU staff aiming for elite finish to recruiting class
Recruiting is the lifeblood of a program and for LSU, that’s one of the avenues Brian Kelly’s program can take to joining the elites of college football. Whether it’s from high school or the transfer portal, the Tigers are aiming high.
Saturday’s 42-28 loss to Alabama showed Kelly that LSU is good, but not elite at this point.
“If we want to be elite, we have to be consistent,” Kelly said Monday. “We won 10 games last year. You need to win 10 again. This (LSU-Florida) is a great opportunity to play a really good opponent at home. You’ve got a chance to move from being a good team to great team. I didn’t come down to LSU to be good. I came here to be elite.”
On the field, there are things to clean up for the Tigers. On the recruiting trail, LSU’s pursuing a finish to the 2024 recruiting class that’d take a step toward elite.
“Building a championship program has to have all of those foundational principles, including in recruiting,” Kelly said. “We’ve just started recruiting. We had a great recruiting class last year. We’re on pace to have another really good recruiting class. We need recruiting, retention and developing the standards and the culture of a championship culture within your program.
“It’s not just building the traits and building the championship mindset. You’re also talking about retaining players in your program and recruiting players. We’re moving forward and making really good progress. It’s just not at the elite level yet.”
LSU flipped 2024 On3 five-star offensive tackle Weston Davis away from Texas A&M last month. The Tigers are the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine leader for four-star wideout Dre’lon Miller. Texas A&M commits Gabriel Reliford, an in-state Top 100 prospect, and Terry Bussey, a five-star athlete, are on the board, too.
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With a class that already ranks in the Top 10 of 2024 classes on the heels of the fifth-ranked class in 2023, LSU’s hoping that talent helps the Tigers turn the corner.
“You have to be elite to beat teams like that. We’re certainly not there yet, but we’re closing the gap,” Kelly said. “I know nobody wants to hear that. They want to be elite right now. But that team (Alabama) is 45-5 over the last 50 games. We don’t have the same record, but we’re going to get there. We’re going to get to elite.”
The NCAA Transfer Portal window opens Dec. 5, which LSU’s made great use of in Kelly’s two years at the helm in Baton Rouge. Couple that with the staff’s push for elite high school talent and the Tigers can find themselves in the conversation as an elite team.
Kelly’s pushing the right buttons off the field to rebuild LSU. Like in a game, LSU just has to be consistent. Another Top 10 class, but especially a Top 5 class like 2023 would be just what the doctor ordered.
