Brian Kelly weighs in on LSU's potential coaching changes

The LSU defense was among the worst in the NCAA, while the offense finished as the nation’s top scoring offense with 46.4 points per game.

After 12 regular season games, LSU’s scoring defense ranked No. 80 of FBS 133 teams.

With an average of more than 400 yards allowed per game, LSU’s total defense ranked No. 104 of 133 teams.

The Tigers finished 9-3, but with the nation’s best offense and a potential Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback, there was much to be desired on the defensive side of the ball.

“9-3 … we are here to win Championships,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly said on Monday. “Nobody is happy we didn’t play the kind of defense necessary. I’m not happy about it. Nobody is. Our fans aren’t happy about it.”

What does lackluster defensive showings mean for coaching changes?

Kelly said the staff went through exit meetings with LSU’s players a week ago, and the staff has now turned the focus to recruiting as the Early Signing Period approaches and the NCAA Transfer Portal window opens.

From there, Kelly said “evaluations on the staff will come”.

As for evaluating the totality of the season’s woes on defense, Kelly said the defensive performances were put under the microscope as early as the SEC opener in Week 3.

“We started addressing it after the Mississippi State game,” he said. “That’s when addressing defensive shortcomings began. This process has been ongoing.

“This process has been one where we feel the pain of everybody. We feel it, too. It cannot be the kind of defensive performance we had this year. We have to be better, and we will be better.”

LSU defensive coordinator Matt House and his staff finished with the No. 41 total defense in 2022 and the No. 33 scoring defense, allowing an average of 354 yards and just 22.5 points per game.

The points allowed from 2022 to 2023 doubled (22.5 to 46.4), while the Tigers allowed more than 50 more yards per game.

While LSU had turnover on defense from Kelly’s first season to his second season, how heavy does maintaining continuity on the coaching staff weigh in when it comes to decision on retaining or parting ways with on-field assistants?

“You have to factor all those things in,” Kelly said. “You are two years in. You have developed a culture within your program, a way to communicate, a routine, habits, things you want your leadership to expound on a day-to-day basis.

“But you also have to factor in the play of the defense. Are there things correctable under that leadership, and are there things that are not correctable? All that has to be considered when making this kinds of decisions.”

Kelly said the goal is simple: LSU winning a National Championship

Kelly has remained mum on what the future holds for House, cornerbacks coach Robert Steeples, safeties coach Kerry Cooks and defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey.

Lindsey, who suffered a medical emergency in fall camp and was not able to coach this season, returned at the back end of the season in an analyst role.

Former analyst John Jancek moved from outside linebackers coach to defensive line coach, while analyst Bob Diaco took over as outside linebackers coach.

What will the defensive staff look like for the 2024 season?

For starters, Kelly didn’t dismiss the reality that changes could come.

“Here’s what I can tell you,” Kelly said. “I was three games into a season at Notre Dame when I had to fire my (defensive coordinator), and he was in my wedding. That wasn’t an easy decision, but I’m not afraid to make those decisions.

“I am going to do what’s best for LSU’s program and the pursuit of a National Championship. But I’m going to do it informed, I’m going to do it for what’s best for the program. It’s involving players, it’s involving coaches, and involving all things to be more successful as a defense.

“It’s not on one person. It is collectively. If it’s that easy, we would have been in a different place.

“I know it has a personal end to it with families involved. They may have to pull their kids out of school and move, and that’s difficult. But at the end of the day, the decisions I have to make are in the best interest of the LSU football program.”

During Kelly’s time at Notre Dame, his run on defensive coordinators – beyond the firing of Brian VanGorder – came with plenty of hits.

Kelly brought Diaco from Cincinnati, and he went on to win the Broyles Award as the nation’s top coordinator. Kelly also hired Mike Elko, Clark Lea and Marcus Freeman, who are now head coaches at Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and Notre Dame. Diaco also was a head coach at Connecticut.