LSU's Brian Kelly denies abandoning Greg Brooks amid cancer battle

LSU football coach Brian Kelly denied severing contact with former player Greg Brooks, Jr. and his family after the former Tigers captain fought brain cancer and weathered the effects of emergency surgery.

Kelly called claims made by the Brooks family are “factually incorrect” during his remarks at LSU’s news conference on National Signing Day.

Brian Kelly with a powerful message surrounding Greg Brooks and the GMA interview from this week.

“It is factually incorrect to state I was not there by Greg’s side during this ordeal. We love Greg… That comment struck a nerve with me.”

Huge message.

🎥: @LSUfootball pic.twitter.com/1IARugvhZ3
— Zack Nagy (@znagy20) February 5, 2025

“We had somebody from my staff that was there virtually every single day,” Kelly said.

“We love Greg. We love him for the person that he is, for the competitor that he is, and the battler that he is, and can only wish him continued progress as he goes through an incredibly difficult time.”

Kelly’s remarks came less than a day after Brooks’ family told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that they haven’t heard from anyone in the LSU football program since the fall of 2023.

Brooks sued the school and a Louisiana hospital for alleged negligence in their treatment of the brain tumor that ended his football career.

“My son almost lost his life, coach. Where were you?” Brooks’ father said on GMA.

He added: “Forget about football. Pick up the phone and say you love the kid, man.”

Kelly said that Brooks’ comments struck a nerve with him.

“It hit my heart,” he said. “Because that’s not why I’m in this business. I’ve been in it for our players, will always be in it for our players.

“It rattled me that somebody could possibly be so factually incorrect in stating that I was not part of Greg Brooks, Jr.’s care and support. The support was the entire university, the entire community. I needed to make sure that record was clear.”

Brooks Jr.’s lawsuit alleges that he fainted during a football practice and then vomited in front of his coaches and trainers minutes later.

The suit also contends that an LSU trainer told Brooks, Jr. that he had vertigo and cleared him to return to practice shortly after.

The ex-player also claimed that he was told by the LSU coaching staff that he might lose his starting position if he didn’t take part in practice as he dealt with the symptoms.

LSU made an appointment for Brooks with the neurologist who discovered the brain tumor 39 days after his first symptoms, the family says.

Brooks’ father says he wasn’t told of his son’s grave condition until it was obvious that the player would require emergency surgery.

Brooks, Jr. began his college football career at Arkansas from 2019 to 2021 before he transferred to LSU in 2022 and emerged as a key contributor on the Tigers’ defense.

He played in two games during the 2023 season before his brain tumor was found.

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