Brian Kelly opens up on sideline talks with LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier
Entering Week 6 of the NCAA season, LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier‘s name is steadily climbing up the leaderboards in several statistical categories: completions, passing yards, and touchdowns, to name a few.
But the LSU quarterback knows stats aren’t enough.
“I think our best football is yet to be played,” Nussmeier said after LSU’s win over South Alabama. “We made some mistakes out there that we’d like to have back. It’s good going into the bye week to soak up all the good things that have happened but also correct all the things we can be better at.”
Nussmeier finished the game with 409 yards on 26-of-39 passing, adding two touchdowns through the air and two on the ground. However, he also had two unconventional interceptions.
“I made some mistakes—two plays I want back,” he admitted. “I’ve got to be better. I’m going to continue to strive to be better and hopefully continue to clean up the things we need to clean up on the offense, and me specifically taking care of the football.”
One of the viral moments of the game came when TV cameras captured head coach Brian Kelly animatedly talking to Nussmeier on the sideline after the second interception. Kelly addressed the moment on Monday during an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show.” “We’ve got a great relationship. I’m reminding him about the things we talk about every single day,” Kelly said. “I come across on a blip of four- or five-seconds hollering at somebody, but you don’t see the hours and hours and hours that I’ve got my arm around him talking about the great things that he does. That’s just TV. You take it for what it’s worth.”
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Kelly elaborated on his coaching approach with Nussmeier: “You’ve got to have a really good relationship with the guys or you can’t make the point that way because they’ll take it the wrong way or collapse in those types of situations. There’s some guys I can’t talk to that way. I can’t get at them. With Garrett, you can really get after him because that’s the way he’ll remember it.”
Nussmeier had already touched on that dynamic in his postgame interview, explaining,”It was just a normal conversation between a coach and player that should happen. He expects a lot of me and that’s how I want it to be. The worst thing I want is if I throw an interception and go to the sideline and nobody says anything to me. That would mean nobody has belief in me to not do what I did. Coach Kelly does an unbelievable job in correcting me and letting me know. I’ve been coached hard my whole life. I think it started when I was a kid with my dad. He was always very hard on me and very enthusiastic and loud. I’m used to stuff like that.”
With the bye week ahead, Nussmeier and the Tigers will focus on getting healthy and reviewing game film as they prepare for a high-stakes SEC matchup against Ole Miss on October 12 at Tiger Stadium.
