By Hunt Palmer
Brian Kelly’s background includes politics.
He knows what he’s doing in front of a microphone. Despite a joke not landing here or there, he carries himself with a presence and chooses his words wisely.
He’s also aware of the chatter around his program at a given time. Weekly appearances on the Paul Finebaum Show and a caller-driven coach’s show will do that.
He delivered a strong message on Friday.
“I’ve coached for a long time. I’ve got a lot of guys in the NFL, a lot of first round draft picks,” Kelly said. “I think I’ve got a pretty good eye for what an offensive line looks like. This group is going to be really good.”
That message is rooted in truth.
While at Notre Dame, Kelly’s program produced nine draft picks on the offensive line. Four of those, nearly half, were first round selections. Will Campbell was LSU’s first offensive lineman picked in the first round since 1998.
On his first day in Baton Rouge, Kelly was asked how he was able to maintain the offensive line conveyor belt from South Bend to the NFL. His answer was simple if incomplete.
“Demeanor, right,” Kelly started. “You’re looking at what their demeanor is. You look at playing the offensive line, it requires a profile that I like to stick with. I’m not going to get into specifics right now, but there’s a demeanor, there’s a profile, and there’s a brotherhood on that offensive line that we built, and that brotherhood is real. Those guys are selfless, and they are the backbone of any great offense I’ve ever coached.”
After three seasons, Kelly and his staff helped churn four more draft picks into the NFL which speaks incredible volumes about his ability to recreate what he cultivated at Notre Dame. It also allows questions about replacing those four starters with players who have combined to start less than 20 games at LSU.
Early returns in fall camp were…wobbly to put it nicely.
I’ve certainly gone to the airwaves to express uncertainty at the very least and concern to take it a step further. Kelly used his Friday press conference to show confidence in the collective group that may be lacking the star power of 2024.
“We don’t have a Will Campbell,” Kelly said. “He’s the fifth pick in the draft. But we have five guys that play well together. It starts with the center. Our center position in Braelin Moore kind of sets up the rest of the group for success.”
Moore’s addition highlights an avenue for sustained success that wasn’t available to Kelly at Notre Dame—the transfer portal.
At Notre Dame, Kelly couldn’t just pluck a two-year starter from the ACC to plug in. That had to be cultivated from within, and Kelly’s program did it repeatedly. Moore has dominated his one-on-one reps in practice and manned the center spot every day since camp broke in late July.
He’s tasked setting protections and anchoring the middle between two new guards.
“His combination work is outstanding,” Kelly said of Moore. “His recognition of fronts, getting us to be an elite offensive line, if you have a center that can kind of set the stage for that, it allows everything else to fall into place, and it’s starting to fall into place quite nicely.”
At tackle, Tyree Adams and Weston Davis are prototypes. Both are 6-foot-7 and about 315 lbs. Adams was a Top 10 tackle in the country coming out of high school, and Weston Davis earned five stars as a prep standout in Texas. They’re great athletes but have combined for one total start.
At guard, Josh Thompson is a multi-year Big Ten starter, and the other side is a battle between DJ Chester and Paul Mubenga. Chester was the top ranked interior offensive lineman in the country according to On3. Mubenga, who picked up football in high school, quickly earned offers from powerhouses like Michigan, Tennessee, Penn State and Texas A&M because of his size and athleticism.
With a 4,000-yard passer returning, a preseason second team All-SEC running back, an embarrassment of riches at wide receiver and essentially a cheat code at tight end, the only real question mark on the offensive unit is the front.
That’s a fair question for me and my media cohorts to pose. That said, Kelly has won nearly 300 more games than our gaggle has combined.
If the head coach’s comment answers that reasonable question, look out.
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