Brian Kelly Talks Scheduling Format, NIL and the Transfer Portal
The SEC is in the midst of its annual meetings where coaches and higher ups meet to discuss the league, what needs to be improved and more. For LSU, that means Brian Kelly and Scott Woodward hit the road to handle business.
It gave Kelly the chance to sit down and discuss the current scheduling format, how NIL is changing the way college athletics is run and the new era of the NCAA Transfer Portal.
A look into what the man in charge had to say:
On the SEC schedule and competition level the Tigers play weekly
“I love Alabama. I love that kind of matchup. I was in that stadium for that game and I can tell you there’s not a better atmosphere in college football than being there between two teams that are competing at that level. That’s why I came to the SEC, to play in that kind of game. I wish I could give you a better answer but it’s why I came down here.”
On the challenges of playing in the SEC, significant depth
“I think certainly as we get into 2024, clearly the depth, the tradition, the resumes of all these teams, it would be easy to make that deduction. Still going to have to go out there and continuously prove it but I think the SEC has shown that has been the case over the past nine, 10 years. There are other conferences that would like to make that case but I think the SEC actually can.”
On the impact of NIL during the Transfer Portal process
“Free player movement is not the issue, it’s the inducements. That’s the issue. If somebody wanted to move because he wasn’t playing and he wasn’t happy because he was third string or second string and said ‘I wanna go to Kentucky’ okay that’s fine. But when he’s leaving because somebody is offering him more money to go to another school, that’s not free movement. That’s called free agency and that’s the unintended consequences of what we got into and that’s what we’re trying to see if we can get our hands around.”
On NIL regulations, different state’s approaches
“Each state has its own rules. So now you have a conference that Texas has a rule, Louisiana has a rule, Alabama has a rule. Everybody has different rules and that’s not good for the conference. It’s really about trying to get some kind of national legislation that can get this in a better place so we can have national competition that has a level playing field.”
