Brian Kelly is not pretending the LSU years unfolded the way he wanted. Looking back on his time in Baton Rouge, the former Tigers head coach pointed straight to the staff-building decisions that shaped the whole run, saying the process would have been smoother if he had been able to bring the coordinators he wanted from Notre Dame.
Kelly had hoped to arrive at LSU with then-defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman and then-offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. That never happened. Freeman and Rees stayed in South Bend for another season, and Rees later moved on to Alabama.
On “The Independent: A Notre Dame Football Podcast,” Kelly said the missed hires mattered.
“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 reset became one of the defining problems of Kelly’s tenure. In 2023, LSU finished 81st nationally in scoring defense, giving up 28 points per game. The Tigers also ranked 87th against the run and 42nd against the pass.
The changes didn’t stop there. After LSU’s historic 2023 offense - the nation’s best in scoring and total offense at 45.5 points and 543.5 yards per game - Joe Sloan was elevated to offensive coordinator after Mike Denbrock left. 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.”
Kelly’s hindsight is clear enough: the staff he couldn’t assemble at the start made the climb steeper at LSU. Freeman and Rees, meanwhile, have both moved on in strong fashion. Rees is now the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons after climbing the NFL ranks, while Freeman has turned Notre Dame into a preseason national championship contender heading into his fifth season as Kelly’s successor.
In Other News...
Another Saints Star Just Earned Major NFL Top 100 Respect
Another Saints pass catcher is getting some national shine, with Chris Olave landing at No. 64 in the NFL Top 100 Players of 2026. It is the kind of recognition that fits a receiver who turned in a big 2025 season, piling up 100 receptions, 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns while earning second-team All-Pro honors.
Olaves standing matters even more for a New Orleans offense that will keep leaning on him as a featured target, and it also adds a little extra intrigue to the Saints' 2026 schedule. The Arizona Cardinals are set to see him up close in Week 16 in New Orleans, where his speed and route-running will again be part of the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Jonas Sanker Faces A Huge Saints Test After Alontae Taylors Warning
Jonas Sankers move from safety to the STAR spot has already become one of the more interesting camp storylines for the Saints, and he has a useful guide in Alontae Taylor. Taylor made a similar transition early in his own career and has been telling Sanker to lean into the role instead of trying to play it too safely. For a position that asks a defender to live in traffic, read quickly and make things happen near the line, confidence matters almost as much as technique.
Sanker has shown why the Saints are intrigued, with preseason moments that hinted at real playmaking upside. New Orleans wants him to help as both a run defender and a pass rusher from that hybrid spot, which means the job is about more than just lining up and holding ground. The challenge now is turning those flashes into something steady, and the next step will be whether Sanker can keep trusting his instincts when the role starts demanding more from him. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Fans Still Debate Which Early 2000s Topps Card Matters Most
The early-2000s Topps Football run still has collectors arguing over which card carries the most weight, and it is easy to see why. The 2000 set brought in the blue-border design and a rookie crop that included Brian Urlacher, while the 2001 and 2002 editions added more of the eras defining names and kept the hobby conversation moving from one release to the next.
For Saints fans, the appeal goes beyond the cardboard itself because those sets overlap with a franchise history that eventually became tied to one of the eras most important quarterbacks. The market has settled into a familiar split, with the biggest chase card commanding premium attention and the other key rookies remaining far more approachable, but the debate over which Topps issue matters most still has plenty of life left in it. [Read more 🡒]