"It's a gauntlet", Brian Kelly embraces LSU's tough 2024 schedule
As Brian Kelly made the rounds at SEC Media Day on Monday, the questions about his offensive and defensive personnel swirled persistently, but on ESPN’s solo interview with LSU’s head coach, Kelly had a chance to talk about his team’s schedule and the SEC.
The new-look conference has added Texas and Oklahoma, now reaching 16 teams set to compete in the most talented conference in the country.
It also sent a shock to LSU fans who were used to playing the same teams every year with Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Florida, Arkansas, and Alabama. With rotating schedules, the schedules will look different and that is the case this year. When asked about the schedule, Kelly clearly knew how challenging the road ahead was, but looks forward to the challenge.
“Well, we have to open up with USC and we have to finish with Oklahoma and in between we have to play the entire SEC schedule,” Kelly said with a grin. “I think it’s just week to week and being able to answer that bell in this conference. It is a gauntlet. In a snapshot, playing in it for one week is fine, but you have to be able to play in it week in and week out and play quality football.”
Consistency has been Kelly’s motto throughout his coaching career and with the schedules getting tougher and the playoffs expanding, college football rosters will be put to the test throughout the season to maintain their level. That means taking more consideration into a player’s durability, conditioning, and overall health.
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“You have to be really intentional with your year-around workouts and you have to make sure your team is prepared the right way,” Kelly said. “That means you have to give them the right rest. The recovery has to be really thoughtful and you have to be sure you’re playing all of your players because this is a marathon. This is not a sprint. You have to rely on depth within your program and you’re going to have to replace players throughout the season. Guys will get injured, so you have to have quality depth and guys are going to have to play that are key backups and that’s what you’ll see in this league. Teams that have the depth are probably going to end up at the top.”
In a conference with an elite level of physicality and the potential to play up to 17 games in a season, depth has become more important now than ever. In Kelly’s first two years at LSU, the depth was a considerable question mark. Now, entering year three, there’s a standard Kelly has set and multiple recruiting classes have helped fill the back end of the roster with high-level potential and players bought into what Kelly has sold here in Baton Rouge.
“Everybody has to accept their role,” Kelly said. “There are going to be front line guys, your starters, but there have to be guys ready to step in and perform at the highest level, so accepting that role and understanding your role on this team. That’s what I have to do and that’s what our coaches have to do with each and every one of our players.”
