By: Matt Moscona
It’s not a coincidence that Brian Kelly’s teams hit an inflection point in year three.
Central Michigan won its conference in Kelly’s third year. Cincinnati had an undefeated regular season under Kelly in year three. Notre Dame played Alabama for the national title—and got annihilated—in Kelly’s third season in South Bend.
“Year 3 is a level of accountability in every program that I have taken over, that is heightened,” Kelly told reporters this summer at SEC Media Days. “There’s a trust factor and accountability level within our process that pops, if you will, and that’s this year.”
It’s difficult for LSU fans to allow themselves to remember what Kelly inherited. In the two seasons after the greatest season in college football history, LSU combined to go 11-12. A Mississippi State quarterback set a single game SEC passing record in Tiger Stadium—and was benched a month later. We saw the most lopsided loss in the Alabama series history. There was a blowout loss at Kentucky. Remember the lay-down-and-quit day in Oxford (I’ve tried to forget, too)? A receiver played quarterback in a bowl game.
It was bad. Really bad.
Kelly inherited a program in its worst shape since Nick Saban arrived in late 1999. And his first order of business—aside from rebuilding a roster decimated by Ed Orgeron’s incompetence—was to rebuild the culture.
More than 30 people within the program were replaced. Not only coaches, but longtime staffers and support personnel were shown the door. Complacency was gone. Expectation was once again the standard.
There were daily accountability checks for the players. The team filled out questionnaires about what they ate, how long they slept and their school habits. Not everyone bought it and those that didn’t, left the program.
No, it wasn’t perfect at first. The Tigers lost Kelly’s debut against Florida State in a sideways performance that featured errant snaps, muffed punts and a crushing blocked PAT at the end of regulation that would have tied the game.
But the results would come. They always do in Kelly’s programs.
In a matter of two months, LSU would be upsetting Alabama in overtime and lamenting the FSU loss as possibly costing the team a playoff berth. But consistency has to be earned over time. A head-scratching loss to a sub-.500 Texas A&M team and blowout loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship game were a sobering reminder of how far LSU has to go to be among the nation’s elite again. But they were on the right track.
Last season was equal parts exhilarating—thanks to the magnificent Jayden Daniels—as it was infuriating, on account of the worst defense in program history.
But perspective matters. A Heisman winner and back-to-back 10-win seasons is lightyears from the two seasons that preceded Kelly’s arrival. It takes time to build a championship program. Talent is a prerequisite. But so is culture. And sometimes, that can be the harder of the two to unlock.
So, now the dawn of Kelly’s third season is nigh. The star players today like Will Campbell, Emery Jones and Harold Perkins were the fledglings in 2022 when Kelly was building his cultural foundation. Now, they’re the leaders and that’s all they’ve ever known in the purple and gold.
There was a moment in fall camp when freshman offensive tackle Ory Williams was beaten badly in a one-on-one drill. The veteran Campbell walked up to him and said something in his ear, not loud enough for anyone nearby to hear. Williams won his next rep.
The best player on the team is carrying forward the ideals Kelly insisted on from the beginning.
Sunday night in Las Vegas, LSU has the opportunity to prove how far they’ve come against another marquee program going through an existential crisis of its own.
History has proven to be an accurate predictor of what is to come.
LSU 31, USC 27
