Brian Kelly is not pretending the LSU chapter ended any other way than it did: with a lot of second-guessing and a clear sense that the setup around him never fully clicked. And when he looks back, the first place he goes is the staff he wanted to bring with him from Notre Dame.
On “The Independent: A Notre Dame Football Podcast,” Kelly said the Tigers’ transition would have been smoother if Marcus Freeman and Tommy Rees had followed him to Baton Rouge. Freeman was his defensive coordinator at the time, while Rees was his offensive coordinator. Neither made the move, and both stayed in South Bend for another season before Rees later left for Alabama.
“Oh, I think it means a lot, …” Kelly said of not having Freeman and Rees follow him. “In terms of looking at the things that may have made this process slower than they wanted it to be, was coordinator hires, and I needed to do a better job there.
I had to make a change after Year 2 in defense. That’s never a great thing after Year 2 to make a change on defense, and I think the world of Matt House is a great man, and he’s a smart football coach, but it didn’t work.”
That defensive side of the ball was a problem early in Kelly’s run, and it became impossible to ignore in 2023. LSU finished 81st nationally in scoring defense, giving up 28 points per game, while also ranking 87th against the run and 42nd against the pass.
The changes didn’t stop there. After LSU’s historic 2023 offense - one that led the nation in scoring and total offense at 45.5 points and 543.5 yards per game - Mike Denbrock departed, and Joe Sloan was elevated to offensive coordinator. Kelly said Sloan was put in a difficult spot.
“And then you know Joe Sloan was handed a tough you know obviously situation, and he was inexperienced in some areas, and he was outstanding in others. But I think, as I look at it, those two that you mentioned, if they were able to make the move, it would have been an easier transition, no doubt.”
Looking back, the missing pieces are easy to spot. Kelly believes not landing both coordinators from Notre Dame hurt the move from the start.
But the irony is that the two coaches he wanted have since moved on in strong ways of their own. Rees is now the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons after climbing the NFL coaching ladder, while Freeman has turned Notre Dame into a preseason national championship contender entering his fifth season as Kelly’s successor.
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