LSU head coach Brian Kelly speaks with LSU offensive lineman Will Campbell (66) on the sidelines in the first half between the Tigers and the Gators, Saturday, November 16, 2024, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla.
You may think Brian Kelly is the man for the job at LSU. You may think he's all wrong, and that LSU should find a giant pot of gold somewhere, cut its ties with him and run to find The Guy who will make everything all right (yeah, right).
There was one thing Kelly said at a somber Monday news conference at the LSU football complex to kick off Vanderbilt week that I think everyone can agree on:
"There's nowhere to hide."
Those four words are fraught with all sorts of different meanings for folks. What they say to me is that the challenge is here for Kelly, his staff, his players -- and even the LSU community at large -- to figure a way out of the Tigers' current malaise. To end a three-game losing streak and to reverse what over the past month has looked like a program that is regressing.
Most, but not all, of the responsibility falls on Kelly. As he said in the somber news conference Saturday night after LSU's 27-16 loss at Florida (are you sensing a pattern here?), "The buck stops with me."
That's the reward, and burden, that comes with a $10 million a year coaching job.
LSU, and I think even Kelly, would have to admit it isn't currently getting its money's worth. It's not entirely shocking that the Tigers are 6-4 right now given the deficiencies, question marks and changes the Tigers came into the 2024 season with. New coordinators, an entirely new defensive coaching staff, new quarterback and skill position players, and new players all over the place.
Heap on top of that a sprinkling of debilitating injuries -- linebacker Harold Perkins and defensive tackle Jacobian Guillory lost for the year, and now the last two games without offensive lineman Garrett Dellinger that appears to be the card pulling down the entire house for the offense -- and you feel the challenging headwinds facing LSU quite literally.
It may seem incredible to think that Dellinger's injury in the Texas A&M game -- one that befell a player who starts at left guard and not the more critical left tackle spot -- is the last straw that doomed LSU's season. But since he got hurt against the Aggies and subsequently required tightrope surgery on his ankle, the Tigers have allowed 11 sacks compared to just two before he went down. The struggles of his replacement, Paul Mubenga, and redshirt freshman center DJ Chester to block pass rushers coming right up the middle is one of the things that has derailed the Tigers, who have managed to score just 35 points combined over the past 9½ quarters while giving up 100.
The Dellinger issue (Kelly couldn't say Monday whether Dellinger will play against Vandy) illustrates what a knife's edge LSU was operating on this season. Kelly knew his team well when in the preseason he said the Tigers would have to win a lot of close games decided in the fourth quarter. LSU is 2-1 in games decided by a touchdown or less, with three more double-digit losses to Texas A&M, Alabama and Florida.
The Tiger's Titanic has hit the proverbial iceberg this season, and there isn't time to turn it around. The only option left is to try to mitigate the damage and undertake some sort of football salvage operation. Frustrated as he obviously is, Kelly isn't willing to give up.
"We didn't get the job done" at Florida, he said. "We didn't finish. But this team is far from believing it can't."
Brave words, but it will take more than words from the head coach to pull the Tigers out of their nosedive and turn 6-4 into 9-4 with closing wins over Vandy and Oklahoma plus whatever bowl game the Tigers end up in. It's going to take a better job from Kelly and his staff, and even more commitment from the players, some of whom are undoubtedly planning their exit strategy to the transfer portal or NFL.
At the moment, 2025 hardly looks promising either considering what LSU may lose off of this team, plus whatever major staff changes Kelly may have to contemplate for the third straight offseason. Still, in the NIL/transfer portal era of college athletics, no one truly knows what the next season will bring. College football now resembles baseball or basketball in that a few key transfers -- in or out -- completely can alter a team's outlook.
For now, though, there's nowhere to hide. Every moment and every movement Kelly and his Tigers make from now until whenever their season ends is bound to be highly scrutinized.
With each defeat, the second-guessing grows louder.