A Jersey Guy: Kelly: Right time, right place?
The statistics as Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey said on Monday were impressive enough.
Six of the last 7 seasons producing 10 or more wins, three Coach of the Year awards (09, 12, 18), three times in the CFP playoffs, including an appearance in the national title game in 2012.
All of this done at a place called Notre Dame where football is a pretty big deal.
Yet it wasn't enough, which is probably the primary reason why Brian Kelly was in Atlanta on Monday afternoon talking about a place where e felt he could achieve that AND more.
Kelly has been the head coach at LSU since December, making the unprecedented move of leaving NOTRE DAME for another college job.
Who does that?
No one does that, which is why of all the crazy off-season transactions in college football, Kelly's move from South Bend to Baton Rouge created the biggest stir.
"An interesting six or seven months,'' was the way he explained it to a large gathering of media in Atlanta on the start of SEC Media WEEK--other .conferences have Days. "Right time, right place,''
Kelly's arrival in SEC territory has been a buzz of activity. The kid from Boston, who cut his coaching teeth n the Midwest and is now in Bayou country has tried everything including speaking with his version of a Southern accident, which sent the twitter world into a frenzy of activity.
"Challenging places with great schools,'' said Kelly, who will visit places such as Auburn and Texas A&M for the first time in his career this season. ""My job is to restore LSU to the championship level.''
This where it gets tricky in how Kelly, who has won college football at the Division 2 level (Grand Valley State), uses his words.
Presumably, he was in that spot every year at Notre Dame and left with more wins than any coach in ND history, including a guy named Rockne.
But after a decade of banging against the ceiling, Kelly conceded--at least to himself--that no matter what he did at Notre Dame, it wouldn't be enough to break through to the elite level occupied by six different SEC schools, including LSU three times.
At Notre Dame he had some restrictions.
It's hard to find any that have been put up in Baton Rouge as Kelly attempts to rebuild the Tigers from a 6-7 team last year to the super power that went 14-0 and won the national championship 3 years ago.
When a reporter had the temerity to say that some schools might be outbidding LSU on potential transfer products using NIL funding, Kelly seemed miffed.
"I don't feel we're getting outbid by anybody,'' he said.
Kelly has some work to do to make the Tigers a force again, but he recognizes the upside, which doesn't have any limits, even in the shark-invested waters of the SEC West, where the Tigers must beat out schools such as Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M and Ole Miss, all whom are at a higher level right now than the Tigers.
Kelly has looked at the transfer list, looking for players with SEC experience and ties to the state of Louisiana and has no qualms about raiding within the conference, something he did in picking off a pair of defensive backs from Arkansas who live in Louisiana.
"I'm not crazy about it (going within the SEC for transfers),''he said
Kelly looks at the world of college football and feels a sense of security he never had, even at Notre Dame.
""It's a game of musical chairs,'' was the way he explained conference re-alignment, which has included UCLA and USC going from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten and Texas and Oklahoma moving from the Big 12 to the SEC.""And there aren't enough chairs for everybody.''
Kelly is safe at LSU and in the confines of the SEC, but he also knows he must adjust and produce quickly, the by-product of a multi-year contract which is paying him 10 million per year to make it work.
As for adapting to his new home, Kelly says that football family and food are three priorities in SEC households.
""That's me,''he said, with a laugh.
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