Will Brian Kelly change his transfer portal approach in 2025?

As LSU enters this week unranked for the first time this season and losers of three games in a row for the first time in the Brian Kelly era, there are questions coming from every angle about the program Kelly has built in his three seasons in Baton Rouge.

One of those questions pertains to the acquisition of players and overall talent of LSU’s roster in 2024. Key injuries have played a part, but LSU continues to be outclassed by SEC opponents on the field and now sit at 6-4 on the season with several holes in the roster.

Kelly is at a crossroads. On one hand, he has an elite recruiting class coming in this offseason which can compete with any 2025 class in the country. On the other hand, this team and program needs quite a bit of help in the short term to avoid this from happening again next season.

What will his approach be?

“The transfer portal will not go away,” Kelly said on Monday. “The transfer portal will be something we have to investigate and look at. I do not want a program that is built on the portal. We have to rely on young players. We are plying a lot of young players right now. A lot of first year players, those that have been here for a very short period of time. We have 19 coming in at mid semester, so we’re still going to be playing some younger players, but there needs to be the right mix and right balance. 

“The transfer portal will be something that will be examined closely and if we feel like there’s a particular need there to balance our football team, we’re certainly going to be invested in that.”

Kelly and LSU added eight transfer portal players this past offseason, which Kelly said what a sweet spot and in the range he was looking for to help balance out his roster while developing younger players. Quarterback AJ Swann, wide receivers Zavion Thomas and CJ Daniels, defensive linemen Gio Paez and Jay’Viar Suggs, and defensive backs Austin Ausberry, Jyaire Brown, and Jardin Gilbert was LSU’s 2024 portal class and it’s been a mixed bag. 

In the spring portal window, when LSU was looking for defensive tackle depth, Brian Kelly and LSU passed on players like Simeon Barrow and Daminic Williams as Miami and Oklahoma came in and gave them an exorbitant amount of NIL to come play for them. Kelly said this in an interview in the following weeks in the spring.

“We were in the market, in the transfer portal, looking for defensive lineman. It hasn’t fared very well, quite frankly, because we are selling something a little bit differently. And that is, we want to recruit. We want to engage, build relationships. We want to develop, retain, and have success. We’re not in the market of buying players. And unfortunately, right now, that’s what some guys are looking for. They want to be bought. … We’re not going to go out and buy players.”

Now, Kelly and LSU have to decide their approach for the upcoming offseason. On3 rated and ranked the transfer portal class last year and LSU only had one commitment from the top 150 players – CJ Daniels. He was the only “four star” transfer, with the rest receiving three star grades.

Kelly does not seem too concerned with loading up on transfer portal talent, but if the quantity is not going to change, maybe the quality will. We’ll see how the Tigers’ head coach approaches the task this offseason as he begins building his roster for 2025.