Brian Kelly Talks BJ Ojulari's Impact, SEC Competition, Emotions
Brian Kelly provided his final press conference ahead of the Tigers’ matchup against No. 1 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. With a focus on limiting the explosive plays the Bulldogs are capable of, this program understands the challenge ahead, but feels prepared for what’s to come.
Kelly detailed the impact of junior captain BJ Ojulari, Harold Perkins and the emotions heading into a game of this caliber.
Here are a few takeaways from what the man in charge had to say:
Q. What has BJ Ojulari meant to this team on the field and off the field?
BRIAN KELLY: I would say off the field he embraced the change. He embraced really the mission. That is graduating champions, the excellence that we wanted as a standard here from day one. You need that, right? You need your best players to embrace that. Elected as a captain for us. Led both on and off the field.
He's been an edge play-maker for us. I think when you're talking about excellence both on and off the field, BJ Ojulari would be that guy that we would bring up.
Q. You mentioned this story a few weeks ago about Will Campbell coming to the sideline, noting what he needed to fix, how he was going to fix it as an example of freshmen having this special mentality. What are some other examples of these starting freshmen showing that mental maturity throughout the season?
BRIAN KELLY: Well, I mean, I could give you a number of different examples of Mason Taylor, who is just playing a tight end position, but involved in so many aspects. He's got to have the ability to pick up the running schemes as well as all the passing schemes. The tight end position is not an easy position to play.
To put the physical with the mental at that position as a true freshman, we saw with Brock Bowers did it at Georgia, it's quite unique. So just his ability to bring that every single day in his first year here I think is extraordinary for a young player.
Emery Jones coming in after camp and being inserted into the starting lineup. You've got to have a short memory at that position in this league. There's such great pass-rushers that you're going to give up a sack or two.
I think what I love about Emery is he forgets it and moves on to the next play. Each one of them has their unique traits.
I think we know about Perkins and his ability to impact defensively. Look, we've played him in two or three different positions already. All of them, if you put them all together, we know about their physical ability, but it's been certainly their mental capabilities and their maturity beyond their years to come in and play at this level.
Q. I know that you obviously have many more years behind you as Notre Dame's winningest coach. What gives LSU a higher ceiling to win championships than Notre Dame? Quite a storied program. Now it appears there's more room for success at LSU than Notre Dame.
BRIAN KELLY: Well, I mean, look, there's so many different elements. I think Notre Dame has a great opportunity, as well. That's why I was there for 12 years. We had opportunities certainly in the College Football Playoff, playing for a national championship. We were right on the doorstep of playing for championships and winning national championships.
What is unique about LSU is the in-state recruiting. We didn't have that certainly at Notre Dame. It was much more national. So you've got to go into each state and pull out the best players in those states at Notre Dame, whereas you have it right here in the state of Louisiana.
This is the flagship university. Kids want to go to LSU. They grow up wanting to be a Tiger. There's a bit of an advantage from that perspective right out of the gates when it comes to recruiting.
Q. Can you speak to Malik's impact on the offense, especially on third down?
BRIAN KELLY: Well, certainly he's developed a relationship with Jayden, one that certainly they trust each other. We match them up in a position where he gets quite a bit of one on one matchups. Teams sometimes have to double cover him, which clearly can influence how we can get the ball to other receivers as well.
He's been obviously very consistent for us. I think that relationship that Jayden has developed with him relative to the timing, getting the ball out of his hands before he gets out of the break, has really been, I think, more than anything else, why third down has been so effective.
Coverage is so tight on third down. Everybody knows what you're trying to do. You just have to be so efficient. Your throws, they're phone booth throws, tight throws into tight windows.
They've built a really good repertoire and they're on the same page. I think that is what has been the difference between Malik and why he's led our team in receptions up to this point.
Q. How has the preparation been this week in anticipation of this game?
BRIAN KELLY: Yeah, it will help us in our performance. It's not just what we do on the practice field, it's the decisions that we make away from the field, it's all the things that we do relative to nutrition, sleep, the training room, film study.
Our guys are building better habits with that. That's really what this has been about. It's how they think about it, it's the habits that they've been building relative to their preparation.
We've come a long way, quite frankly. This week they've been very intentional, understanding how important it is playing Georgia, the best team in the country, that those habits have to be really good if they want the kind of performance that they're looking for.
