How LSU Players Are Adapting to Staff, New Sense of "Accountability"
If you talk to any of the LSU players, whether they're new or returning, the word "accountability" is one of the first to describe the last few months.
It's something coach Brian Kelly has preached since taking the job back in December and has trickled down to the players in everything that they do. Kelly briefly gave one example of the wellness questionnaires the players are required to fill out but it goes far beyond that in terms of building the right mindset Kelly and this coaching staff want the players habits and mindset to be.
Wide receiver Jack Bech has certainly seen the flip switch for a number of players, providing another example on how players are holding each other accountable through "SWAT" teams. Before the spring semester started, Kelly appointed 10 players as team leaders and the roster was split up into smaller groups through a draft process.
Bech, quarterback Myles Brennan and defensive linemen Ali Gaye and BJ Ojulari were just a few of the captains chosen as leaders of respective teams. Being on time for meetings and practices, Wednesday morning runs, being involved out in the community, academics and making sure players fill out their wellness questionnaires are just a few ways the individual teams can earn points
"He wants us to be here not because we have to be here but because we want to be here," Bech said. "Not just in this building but in the community. If we bring kids in our group to a baseball game or a basketball game, it's a way to earn extra points. If you're at the top everyone knows that you're the one to beat.
"That's what he's trying to implement is you always want to be at the top of everything you do. You always want to strive to be the best."
The goal for these teams is for everyone to hold each other accountable within the individual teams and just build another sense of healthy competition within the team off the field. It's all encompassing, everything the Tigers do off the field in the way they workout, train and study will only help when it comes to the on field competition.
Even something as trivial as when guys put their hands on their hips or take their helmets off, teammates are right there to knock the hands away or tell them to put the helmet back on.
"He's really built in this sense of accountability within the whole team," Bech said. "First couple of days there's a difference with the team. Everybody's upbeat, we wanna be out here, want to win and he's really establishing that winning mentality. We're here to win every day."
This was definitely something that has been a work in progress over the last several months and will continue to be developed within this staff. Some players have departed the program since Kelly arrived because of some of the heightened ways this program is stressing accountability. Veteran players like Brennan have adjusted to this type of transformation before.
Brennan has been around numerous offensive staff coaching changes and ever evolving philosophies so he's seen it all since joining the program in 2017. What sets this staff apart from the rest that Brennan has been on is the attention on each individual player.
The data in workouts with the new training staff was just one example Brennan pointed to and the individual attention each player gets to not get an overloaded workout routine but rather one of balance and more efficiency.
"I don't know if you've seen, we have a standard board so guys can see if they're above or below the standard. There are just so many things, it's all about accountability," Brennan said. "It's all about doing your job and if everyone does their job we'll be just fine."
