An Impressive Start for Brian Kelly
Locker
ROOM Photos: LSU Athletics
Brian Kelly, head coach.
Matt House, defensive coordinator.
Mike Denbrock, offensive coordinator.
“ . . . it won’t be long before LSU becomes competitive again.”
Brian Kelly came to LSU with the best coaching credentials of anyone in its football history. He has already lived up to expectations by hiring a staff of winners and filling roster holes with experienced players from the transfer portal. Kelly’s accomplishments to date have made a lasting impression. It is obvious that our coach has been down this road before. He has been there and done that. He is knowledgeable, confident, and professional. In hiring a staff, building trust with his new team, recruiting high school stars and some of the best of the transfers, Kelly, as athletics director Scott Woodward said, “… checks all the boxes.” He’s steadily getting all the building blocks in place for the construction of a championship team. In this age of the transfer portal, recruiting never stops. LSU did well in getting some experienced hands through the portal. Only a few roster spots remain. This man was no career assistant coach. He’s been a head coach for thirtyone years. At Grand Valley State, Kelly won consecutive Division II national championships in 2003 and 2004. He was the winningest coach in Notre Dame history, leading the 2012 Fighting Irish to the 2013 National Championship game. His 2018 and 2010 Notre Dame teams made appearances in the College Football Playoffs. From nonstop interviews with prospective coaches, recruiting on the fly, evaluating his returning players, and targeting talent in the transfer portal, Kelly’s previous experiences served him well for a move into the highly competitive SEC. KELLY HIRED EXPERIENCED STAFF He sought experienced coaches to meet this challenge. His offensive coordinator, Mike Denbrock, had the same job at Cincinnati, a team that played in last season’s College Football Playoffs. His defensive coordinator, Matt House, was hired away from the Kansas City Chiefs, a team that had made it to the NFL playoffs. House had SEC experience, serving as a defensive coordinator at Kentucky for three seasons before his Chiefs assignment helped him win a Super Bowl ring. Brian Polian came with Kelly from Notre Dame where he was the special teams and recruiting coordinator. He will serve in the same capacity at LSU. Polian had been a head coach at Nevada. Kelly found prominent individuals with Louisiana backgrounds to strengthen home state recruiting. He left no stone unturned in finding coaches to compete in the nation’s toughest conference. Kelly’s staff includes men with strong Louisiana connections – Frank Wilson, the associate head coach and running backs coach who previously served the Tigers as recruiting coordinator. Joe Sloan, the quarterbacks coach, was the offensive coordinator at Louisiana Tech. New Orleans native Cortez Hankton, the receivers coach and passing game coordinator, served in the same capacity for Georgia, this year’s national collegiate champion. Brad Davis, the offensive line coach, a Baton Rouge native, is the lone holdover from the previous staff. RECRUITING FILLED SEVERAL HOLES Kelly’s reputation as an outstanding recruiter was enhanced by his recruiting blitz prior to his first spring training at LSU. Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels has been added to the quarterback room that already included sixth-year senior Myles Brennan, redshirt freshman Garrett Nussmeier, and true freshman Walker Howard. Kelly added both skill and depth at a key position and created a stir in Tigertown. Brennan will face a spring challenge from Daniels. However, both quarterbacks will get a test from a retooled LSU defense, which could greatly diminish the effectiveness of the two athletes. Their own LSU teammates – in spring scrimmages – will determine the eventual depth chart
40 LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2022
