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Brian Kelly, head coach. Photos: LSU Athletics
Matt House, defensive coordinator.
Mike Denbrock, offensive coordinator.
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
status of Brennan and Daniels. It will be that defense, trying to impress Matt House, their new defensive coordinator, that will greatly influence the selection of LSU’s No. 1 quarterback. Defensive end BJ Ojulari’s play may have a say in their final ranking. Or, conversely, a receiver like Kashon Boutee could make them both look like Joe Burrow.
Kelly is eager to evaluate key position battles in the offensive and defensive line as well as those at cornerback and the celebrated duel at quarterback. The competitive activity will give the new staff an opportunity to fully evaluate the Tigers. LSU had major holes to fill for next season, and Kelly solved that problem by finding veteran personnel in the transfer portal. He and his staff wanted athletes that were standout players for their previous teams. Greg Brooks, Jr., and Joe Foucha, both starters at Arkansas, should strengthen the LSU secondary this fall. Brooks was a threeyear starter at cornerback, and Foucha was a starter at safety for the Razorbacks.
The Tigers surprised most national recruiting analysts when they landed five-star linebacker Harold Perkins of Houston. He was rated as the top high school linebacker prospect in the nation. Perkins and high school signee DeMario Tolan may be the top freshmen linebackers in this class. And at a position of need, no less. West Weeks, the Virginia transfer, should help solidify LSU’s linebacker position.
LSU’s most interesting transfer is Tre Mound Shorts (6-4, 326), an offensive lineman who was a four year starter and an FCS All-American at East Tennessee State. If he adapts to SEC competition, the Tigers will have done as well as anyone in securing proven players from the transfer portal. Another offensive line transfer that captured the fancy of the coaching staff is Miles Frazier (6-5, 305) who played last season at Florida International. He and Shorts should strengthen the offensive line.
With most roster needs addressed, and a new staff filled with proven coaches, it won’t be long before LSU becomes competitive again.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“It is the most significant hire at Death Valley in the twenty-first century.” –Jim Engster, President & Publisher, Tiger Rag Magazine
For years, LSU fans hallucinated about former Notre Dame Coach Ara Parseghian shopping for a home in Baton Rouge and coaching the Tigers. Two generations later, Brian Kelly has departed the citadel of college football for the lure of being the fourth straight LSU coach to win a national championship. It is the most significant hire at Death Valley in the twenty-first century.
“I’m really excited about the future of the Tigers under Coach Kelly.” –Mark Lumpkin, LSU placekicker in 1968-69-70 and SEC Javelin Champion in 1969
Lake Charles High senior Mark Lumpkin received a recruiting pitch from Notre Dame’s Ara Parseghian and LSU legend Alvin Dark on the same weekend in 1966. Lumpkin was waiting at O’Hare International Airport for his return flight home after a recruiting visit at Notre Dame with Coach Paraseghian. As Lumpkin stood at a magazine counter, someone approached him and said, “You need to go to LSU.”
It was Alvin Dark, one of the most celebrated athletes in LSU history. Lumpkin knew him well. Dark was the brother-in-law of his high school coach Billy Lantrip. And Dark quickly gave Lumpkin some reasons why he should become a Tiger.
Dark’s chance meeting at O’Hare had interrupted Lumpkin’s thoughts about his recruiting visit. All of the Notre Dame football history – all the Heisman trophy winners, the national championships, and Parseghian’s recruiting spiel had overwhelmed young Lumpkin. “The voice of someone from home brought me down to earth,” Lumpkin said.
The timing of this chance meeting couldn’t have been more perfect from an LSU perspective. A few weeks later, Lumpkin signed with LSU coach Charles McClendon. “I know I made the right decision in choosing LSU. I believe Coach Kelly, the winningest coach in Notre Dame history, made the right decision, too. He’s just adding a new chapter to an already legendary career as a coach. I cherish the memories of Coach McClendon and my teammates at LSU,” Lumpkin added. “I’m really excited about the future of the Tigers under Coach Kelly.”
“Coach Kelly has Tiger Nation hopeful, optimistic and looking forward to a bright future . . . ” –Gil Rew, Past President, Desoto Parish LSU Alumni Chapter and Past President, LSU Alumni Association Board of Directors
Coach Kelly has Tiger Nation hopeful, optimistic, and looking forward to a bright future on and off the field. He certainly comes to our campus with a long history of success, high standards of personal integrity, and honest straight talk to those around the University. He is certainly a man who a parent of a prospective student or studentathlete would trust as a role model, counselor, and leader.
“It’s an exciting time for LSU football . . .” –Jerry Shea, Jr., Past Chair, LSU Board of Supervisors and Past President, LSU Alumni Association Board of Directors
It is an exciting time for LSU and LSU football. The hire of Coach Brian Kelly will bring consistency to a program in dire need of stability. Kelly, with the recent additions of Kim Mulkey and Jay Johnson, fit well with President Tate’s vision for the future.
Matt McMahon, men’s basketball head coach. Matt McMahon, a Naismith National Coach of the Year Semifinalist who led Murray State to the first 18-0 season in Ohio Valley Conference history in 2021-22, has been named the twenty-fifth head coach of LSU Men’s Basketball.
He arrives in Baton Rouge with a 154-67 record in seven seasons as the Racers’ head coach – including a 31-3 (.900) mark this season. The Oak Ridge, Tenn., native also led his program to four OVC regular season titles, three conference tournament championships, three NCAA Tournament appearances, two NCAA Tournament wins, and a 12136 (.711) record since 2017-2018. The 2021-22 OVC Coach of the Year, McMahon was the only mid-major coach on this season’s list of 10 Naismith semifinalists.
Prior to accepting the head coaching position at Murray State, McMahon spent four seasons as an assistant under Steve Prohm, helping the Racers to four 20-win seasons, including a 2012 NCAA Tournament appearance and the 2014 CollegeInsider.com Championship. McMahon arrived in Murray after one season under Buzz Peterson as an assistant coach for UNC-Wilmington (2010-11). Before that, he spent eight seasons at his alma mater, Appalachian State, where he was an assistant coach from 2002-10. He also spent one season as a graduate assistant at both Appalachian State (2000-01) and Tennessee (2001-02).
A four-year letterman for Peterson at Appalachian State in 2000, McMahon finished his playing career with a Southern Conference championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance in his senior season. In 117 games from 1996-2000, he hit 135 three-pointers, posting a career-high 45.5 percent mark from 3 in 1998-99.
McMahon and his wife, Mary, have three children: Maris, Mabry, and Mason.
Locker Room is compiled and edited by Bud Johnson, retired director of the Andonie Sports Museum and a former LSU Sports Information director. He is the author of The Perfect Season: LSU's Magic Year – 1958.
Kim Mulkey was named the AP National Coach of the Year following her first season as LSU’s head women’s basketball coach, leading the greatest turnaround by a first-year head coach in SEC history.
This marks the third time Mulkey has been named AP Coach of the Year. She earned the award in 2012 and 2019 as well, both seasons in which she led Baylor to national championships. She was also a finalist for Naismith Coach of the Year this season.
It has been a year since Mulkey came home to Louisiana to lead the Tigers. She took over a team that finished the previous season with a 9-13 record.
“Be patient – understand it will not happen overnight,” Mulkey said at her introductory press conference.
The Tigers went 26-6 during her first season, winning their most games since the 2007-08 season. They finished No. 2 in the SEC and were ranked No. 9 in the final AP Poll of the season. LSU was 6-1 against ranked opponents in Coach Mulkey’s debut season and the Tigers hosted March Madness games as a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, winning their first NCAA Tournament game since 2014.
“One of my most enjoyable years ever in my career,” Mulkey, who is the only person in men’s or women’s college basketball history with national championships as a player, assistant coach and head coach, said after LSU’s second round loss to Ohio State.
“I personally judge good coaches based on the talent they have on that floor and are they overachieving. Did we beat some people this year we should not have beaten? You bet we did. We beat a lot of ’em. We beat ranked teams. We didn’t start this baby ranked. We came from nowhere and just built it.”
Two-time national champ Brooks Curry. Photo: LSU Athletics LSU swimmer Brooks Curry single-handedly doubled the swimming program’s NCAA individual titles in March with a win in the 100-free inside the McAuley Aquatic Center at Georgia Tech. He clocked in a time of 40.84, which broke his school record set in February at the SEC Championships. In the prelims, he finished in third place with a time of 41.19.
“We are very proud of Brooks Curry and his outstanding accomplishments at the NCAA Championships,” head swimming coach Rick Bishop said. “His ability to finish races was outstanding. Brook’s double National titles capped off a great year for our Tigers and set the tone for a great next season.”
Curry, a two-time national champion, won both individual national titles at the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. On Thursday, he won the first individual swimming championship in program history since Mark Andrews won the 50-free in 1988.
LSU and its three participating athletes put together an impressive performance that yielded 85 points and a fifteenth-place finish. It is the highest finish for the Tigers since 1997 when LSU placed 14th. On the boards, Juan Celaya-Hernandez closed out his final NCAA Championship with an eighteenthplace finish on platform. He finished with a final score of 323.20.
Tiger Stadium on Thanksgiving Day 1924. The work was hurriedly completed. Photo: The Fighting Tigers LSU played its first home football game against Ole Miss on Dc. 3, 1894, on the downtown campus Parade Grounds. Photo: Courtesy Charles East
The expression “Standing Room Only” was used proudly by purveyors of professional baseball early in the twentieth century after every stadium seat was sold. Standing room would then be sold at a lesser price.
LSU football’s first spectators had … only standing room. They stood around the playing field, the Parade Grounds of the Ole War Skule cadets, long before the University moved to the presentday campus in 1925. The old campus was just north of the Baton Rouge business district. The field was located across the street from the Pentagon Barracks, and near where the state capitol now stands.
Before Dr. Charles Coates and LSU’s team played its first football game – against Tulane in New Orleans on November 25, 1893 – the practices attracted a small following. Cadets and townspeople, numbering about fifty spectators would stand around the practice field watching players practice a sport that was new to almost everyone in the Deep South. Prolonged pushing and shoving took place until a referee called the play dead. One play could last as long as two minutes.
Since most of its readers had never played or seen a football game prior to the 1890s, the local papers – The Daily Advocate, The New Advocate, and the Baton Rouge State-Times – had to educate and persuade the public to attend a game. One local paper suggested that its readers “have a picnic at the game.” Combining food and football would become all the rage, but not until the twenty-first century. The “auto buggies” hadn’t been developed yet, so tailgating would have to wait.
STATE FIELD
Football captivated Baton Rouge in 1896. The team was called Tigers by then, and they finished with a 6-0 record. As interest grew, LSU played most of its big games in New Orleans at a baseball park. On Nov. 16, 1901 the Tigers took the train to New Orleans and played Tulane before a reported crowd of 5,000, the largest ever in Louisiana at the time. By contrast, a good crowd at LSU’s “home field” – State Field – would number about 1,000.
Cadets drill for a crowd of spectators on the Parade Grounds at the downtown campus. Photo: Andrew Lytle
The forward pass was invented in 1906, and after that the game became more like the one we know today. Passing opened up the game. The faster pace utilized speed and athleticism which attracted larger crowds. LSU’s great undefeated team of 1908 popularized the game further with passing, multiple laterals on the same play and long scoring runs.
LSU’s State Field had a seating upgrade in 1911 for its spectators – a wooden grandstand seating 250. Most of those attending home games were still standing. The only way to accommodate big crowds was to play in New Orleans against prominent teams like Sewanee, Ole Miss, and Georgia Tech. The LSU-Sewanee game attracted 6,000 spectators in New Orleans in 1909. President William Howard Taft was in attendance for a few minutes that day.
State Field got another significant boost in 1917. LSU moved its football field across the street to where the state capitol now stands. It had a 7,000-seat wooden grand stand that was built largely by a $3,000 donation from Tiger fan H.V. Moseley. Soon, that wasn’t big enough to seat the crowd. A Tulane game would attract over 10,000.
But the best was yet to come.
TIGER STADIUM
State University was growing. The state acquired two plantations three miles south of Baton Rouge and LSU had a new campus in 1925. A 24,000-seat football stadium, known today as Tiger Stadium, was completed in time for the Tulane game of 1924.
Just seven years later – in 1931 – Tiger Stadium expanded to 34,000 thanks to the creativity and persuasion of athletics director T.P. Heard. He learned that LSU had $250,000 designated for men’s dormitories and persuaded President James M. Smith to combine the new dorm rooms with a stadium expansion. Heard found another $7,500 and added lights to the new structure. LSU had a larger stadium with 8,500 more permanent seats and in 1931 the Tigers ushered in “night football,” making an evening kickoff time more convenient to shopkeepers, farmers, and shift workers.
The Works Progress Administration built many structures at land grant universities during the Great Depression, including LSU. Tiger Stadium and its dorm rooms expanded again in 1936 thanks to the WPA. Its seating capacity grew to 45,000, one of the South’s largest stadiums at the time. This stadium expansion kept pace with an LSU football growth spurt. The Tigers won SEC championships in 1935 and 1936 and played in three straight Sugar Bowl games.
LSU had one more stadium addition involving Heard. It was completed in 1954 when Tiger Stadium was enlarged into a bowl seating 67,510. It involved a major controversy pitting Heard against President Troy H. Middleton, who insisted that a new library had priority over the stadium project.
Heard campaigned for enlarging the stadium on two fronts – the Louisiana Legislature and the LSU Board of Supervisors. He got the stadium expansion attached to a bill that called for an addition to the LSU Medical School in New Orleans. If the Med School bill passed, so would the Tiger Stadium amendment. The bill passed. Heard also persuaded a majority of the LSU board members to give priority to stadium expansion.
A 5-6 season in 1954 didn’t help those who campaigned for the South Stadium expansion. The empty end zone seats seemed to multiply with each loss. In December of that year, the LSU Board of Supervisors ended the tenure of LSU Coach Gaynell Tinsley. Heard was retired.
Critics said Heard had called for stadium expansion too soon. But not by much. In 1958, LSU and Ole Miss, two unbeaten teams, played to a capacity crowd in Tiger Stadium – with Standing Room Only.
The enclosure of Tiger Stadium’s north end zone by WPA workers provided additional seating, athletic offices, and dormitory rooms. Photo: Louisiana State Library
Tiger Stadium was enlarged into a bowl seating 67,510 in 1954. Photo: LSU Sports Information
