By Sean Labar
Brian Kelly is the latest SEC head coach who has a much hotter seat than he did entering the 2024 season, but the LSU Tigers front man seems to always have excuses for his team’s poor performance.
And according to a report from 247 Sports, Kelly complained to the refs about Alabama blitzing late during Saturday’s blowout, despite having all of his starters in the game.
Under the lights in Death Valley in one of the hardest road environments for opponents in college football, the Alabama Crimson Tide marched into Baton Rouge and completely dominated LSU on Saturday, with a 42-13 drubbing that was never close.
The LSU defense had to have known what was coming — as all of America did — but could never find a way to stop Alabama’s predictable, but highly effective offensive attack. The Tigers’ defense was gashed, allowing an astounding 311 yards rushing, including 185 yards rushing and four touchdowns by Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe.
ESPN SEC analyst Paul Finebaum believes Kelly has already lost part of the fan base, and no matter what he does moving forward, a portion of the Tiger faithful have already given up on the accomplished head coach.
“What you’re going to hear Brian Kelly talk about now is winning 10 games (with a bowl win),” Finebaum said on his weekly appearance on the McElroy & Cubelic In The Morning show.
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“That is not enough to satisfy LSU fans, but it will be enough for him to get to next season and hope then to make a more serious run at the Playoff. There’s always going to be an overreaction, but he’s not going to get (some of) those fans back. And it really doesn’t matter.”
“I think he’s an elite coach whose game plan Saturday night did not work,” said Finebaum. “There’s nothing you can say to sugarcoat a simply embarrassing and ghastly performance. But in terms of running Kelly out of town, I think that’s a ridiculous conclusion.”
LSU Tigers Coach Brian Kelly Complains To Refs About Alabama Blitzing
According to a report from 247 Sports, Kelly actually complained to the refs about Alabama continuing to blitz in the fourth quarter.
Even though he had his starters in and was trying to score, he obviously just expected the Crimson Tide to stop trying and let the Tigers waltz into the end zone?
“The game’s over and they’re (expletive) sending 10 guys,” Kelly said, via 247Sports.
He added more detail about it after the game.
“They blitzed seven against us with 22 seconds to go. They didn’t quit. We didn’t quit. We kept playing. We didn’t look at the scoreboard. They didn’t, obviously, look at the scoreboard. They didn’t want us to score,”
It was a SEC rivalry game and Kelly really was mad — and actually complained to the refs — that Alabama was still competing at the very end?
This has been Kelly’s downfall since taking over the LSU Tigers. Time after time, he appears to point the blame elsewhere. While he’s safe for next season barring an epic collapse to end the 2024 campaign, Brian Kelly will enter next year with one of the more warmer seats in the SEC.
