Brian Kelly says Harold Perkins is ready to lead LSU's defense in 2024
Harold Perkins was surprised when Brian Kelly approached him earlier this month and said he wanted him to come to SEC Media Days to represent the defense. Perkins thought it would be someone like Greg Penn or Major Burns, who was older and had been leaders throughout their careers.
But, Kelly was intentional with his selection. Perkins was a dynamite freshman talent in 2022, then was a part of a disastrous defensive season where a lot of the talk was about how he was being misused. A quiet kid from New Orleans. Perkins kept his head down and kept working. The entire defensive coaching staff was flipped over, bringing in Blake Baker as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach and therefore putting Perkins at the center of attention with this LSU defense. He’s been through a lot, but the entire time, he’s stuck with LSU and now looks forward to his junior season as one of the top defensive players in the country.
Bringing Perkins to Dallas for Monday’s SEC Media Day event was not just about his playing ability, but about his maturity as a person.
“I didn’t bring him here because of his importance on the field, I brought him here because I wanted you all to see the man outside of the jersey,” Kelly said. “He’s one of our best students. He has a 3.6 GPA. He is funny. He has a great personality outside of football and I thought it would be a great opportunity for everybody to see who he is outside of football. On the field, he will have a role that is different from where he was the past couple of years. He’s going to play inside. Physically, he’s over 220 pounds and recognizes he can’t play at 212 pounds. His versatility is going to be important to what Blake does on defense and Harold is 100 percent bought in on that.”
The struggles last season were multifaceted, from the coaching staff to Perkins’ own potential limitations. Now, it’s time for him to lock in on being the player this defense needs and he’s excelled in that this offseason.
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“A lot of this has to do with Harold,” Kelly said. “Harold had to make the decision he was going to take care of it. You can’t play inside linebacker at 210 pounds. You can’t hold up inside. He now physically can play inside-out and is still twitchy enough off the edge. He can cover when he needs to. He has made himself the player he needed to be and it’s going to be fun to watch him.”
Perkins is working alongside veteran Greg Penn and an established linebacker coach in Baker who has brought the best out of seemingly every linebacker he’s worked with in his career. Now, with Perkins physically filled out and mentally locked in. There’s been an edge from the junior linebacker as he enters what is likely his final season in Death Valley.
“It wasn’t hard [to make that adjustment],” Perkins said. “I feel like if you’re a dog, you’re a dog. Either you got it or you don’t. You have to add on to the mental side, but it’s a mindset thing at the end of the day. You have to use your hands more on the inside, but I actually love playing on the inside. You can’t run away from [me] when I’m on the inside.”
