Brian Kelly, staff ready to recruit to LSU for championship goals
LSU head coach Brian Kelly knows that 9-3 isn’t cutting it in Baton Rouge. Kelly left Notre Dame to pursue a National Championship in the Southeastern Conference and become the fourth straight coach at the helm at LSU to earn one.
Looking back on Monday on the Paul Finebaum Show, he said there are evaluations that need to be made both with coaches and players. It starts with sitting down with players as the NCAA Transfer Portal window will soon open on Dec. 4.
“Good foundational pieces for us, but we’ve got to take the next step and that is win the SEC Championship,” Kelly told Finebaum. “I think it starts with evaluations with your team. I think it’s important that you sit down with your players, let them know what they did well, certainly what they need to do better, talk about what the future looks like.”
The Tigers are after multiple four-star prospects, some of which are committed elsewhere, in 2024. Kelly’s staff is hitting the recruiting trail as well to evaluate prospects for future classes as well.
The biggest priority for a program that’s been rebuilt over the past two seasons is retain current talent. If you’re turning over an entire roster, it’s difficult to reach those championship goals.
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“Retention is first and foremost the most important thing right now for our football program,” Kelly said. “It’s not who you can get through the portal. That’ll be part of this entire process in the offseason, but I think retention first. Spend time with your players.”
From there, Kelly expects his staff to get after it the next few weeks on the recruiting trail. The Tigers will lost some elite talent to the NFL, including Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers and others. Replacing them is critical while setting up the program for success in the future.
“We’ve got to get back on the road and recruit here,” Kelly said. “Recruiting now until it goes dead on the 17th is an important part of this as well as we look forward to ’24, ’25 and ’26.”
The NCAA Transfer Portal window runs for 30 days from Dec. 4 while the early signing period is Dec. 20-22.
