Brian Kelly reveals the three keys he values in a defensive unit

Brian Kelly has a type of defense he’s looking for out of LSU, and it’s evident he plans to implement it.

Speaking with the media, the Tigers leader revealed the three keys he values in a defensive unit, and there’s some interesting insight from Kelly.

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“There’s three things. One, you definitely want to get offenses in a position where they’re against the chains. In other words, they’re off-schedule. That’s important. When you get offenses in 2nd and 15, 2nd and long, you get them off-schedule. That’s important. So those are tackles for loss, and we believe that we can do that with the disruptive front that we have. The second thing is taking the football away. Whether that be through pressure on the quarterback, interceptions, strips — those are things that we work on everyday. And then the third down defense. The ability to get off the field on third down,” stated Kelly. “So to me, when you look at the nature of your defense, those three things between the twenties are how you really evaluate a successful defense. Getting offenses off-schedule, taking the football away and being really good on third down, getting off the field.

“We obviously have to be great in the red zone and forcing field goals over touchdowns, but that’s another — that’s a whole other defensive structure for us, because you get into different fronts and coverages and such, but that would be my answer.”

Now, it’s up to the Tigers to make Brian Kelly’s vision come true. If they do, LSU can surprise some people in 2022.

Brian Kelly applauds new-found depth at cornerback position

Prior to preseason camp, Brian Kelly was not sure who would be playing cornerback for LSU — or more precisely, who would even be ready to play cornerback. Now, after more than a dozen camp practices, Kelly thinks the Tigers have as many as six players who the coaching staff would confidently put on the field at cornerback.

Two specific players Kelly noted could play the wide field corner position were Jarrick Bernard-Converse and Mekhi Garner. All told, he thinks LSU has an array of flexible players at cornerback.

“Well, we like Jarrick at the wide field corner,” Kelly said. We think he’s really smart and savvy. Has a good feel for it. Mekhi, as well, can play there. You know, I just think that we have interchangeable pieces there.

Bernard-Converse and Garner both transferred to LSU this year. Bernard-Converse came from Oklahoma State, and Garner departed nearby Louisiana. Both bring a bevy of collegiate experience — Garner started at cornerback for two seasons, with 15 passes defended and Bernard-Converse racked up 24 passes defended and two interceptions in four years with the Cowboys. It’s no surprise Kelly is confident in either of them.