Clemson Tigers Fire Back at LSU Football's Brian Kelly for 'Death Valley Jr.' Remark

Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers will report to Fall Camp next week with the 2025 season inching closer as the offseason continues in Baton Rouge.

After working through the NCAA Transfer Portal, Spring Camp, SEC Media Days and summer workouts, all focus is on Week 1 at Clemson.

It's no secret the LSU Tigers have struggled in Week 1 matchups after dropping their last handful of season openers.

Now, the program is taking a different approach from a preparation perspective and it starts with "circling" Game 1.

“I felt like I needed to change the way we looked at the opener,” Kelly said at SEC Media Days. “And so that was a specific mindset change of how we would go attack Game 1.

"There will be some other things that I’m not going to get into relative to how we prepare our team. But that was a decision that I needed to make after critically looking at not having success in the first game."

Embracing the challenge of the Clemson Tigers is key with Kelly diving into what it means.

“We needed to do some things differently this year, and that is embrace this opener,” Kelly added. “And embracing it in a manner that this is a big game. It’s a tangible goal for our football team to want to be 1-0.”

But the matchup is taking America by storm following a remark from LSU's shot-caller this week after calling Clemson's Memorial Stadium "Death Valley Junior."

A look into Kelly's comment, Clemson's Dabo Sweeney's response and what the players are saying:

Brian Kelly's "Death Valley Junior" Comment: "You need those (Championship) traits when you’re on the road, when you’re at Death Valley Junior,” Kelly said on Wednesday.

Sweeney's Response: “First of all, both programs are for real. These are two great programs. We’ve met a couple of times over the years. Great respect for LSU. But I think if you just Google Coach (Lonnie) McMillan, who was the head coach at PC (Presbyterian), you can go and do that research on your own,” Swinney responded during an interview on ESPN.

“What matters is how we handle our business in Clemson, South Carolina on Aug. 30. So that’s our focus. But that stuff is historical facts, so I’ll let you do the research on that and you can report back. I’ll be tuned in for your report. You have a homework assignment.”

Clemson EDGE TJ Parker's Response: “They can have their opinion. We’re gonna handle all that on August 30,” Parker said.

“At the end of the day, we can do all the talking, we still got to play. So, we gonna see, you know what I’m saying? They’re hyping up everybody across the board, all these transfers they got — we’ll see.”

LSU Linebacker Whit Weeks Claps Back:

🤬 let’s do it https://t.co/mvKziDA0s2
— whit weeks (@WeeksWhit) July 24, 2025

The Week 1 clash headlines a deep slate during opening weekend of the 2025 season with LSU and Clemson gearing up for what has the makings of an instant classic between the pair of powerhouse programs.

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