Brian Kelly discusses his memories of watching 2019 LSU offense

Brian Kelly was just like us in 2019 — enamored with the ability of the LSU offense, led by Joe Burrow.

It was a legendary season that even the best minds in college football stopped to marvel at. Now, Kelly may not have ever imagined he’d be coaching the Tigers in 2022 while watching Burrow go to work, but the former Notre Dame coach is looking to return the program to form under his watch.

In an interview with Jacques Doucet, Kelly spoke about his memories of watching the LSU offense during their dream season.

“I think everybody watched that prolific offense,” started Kelly. “It got overshadowed a little bit, but the defense was really good too, certainly. But when you’re watching college football, I don’t think anybody could not watch that offense. It was so prolific.”

While LSU couldn’t keep the standard they built during that season, Brian Kelly is trying to build something sustainable for the Tigers. Still, the 2019 season is the high-water mark — what the former Notre Dame coach will aspire to return to as he rebuilds the program.

Brian Kelly: LSU standard dipped in 2021, warranted head coaching change

Moreover, Brian Kelly took quite a jump this offseason, going from independent Notre Dame to the SEC with LSU to replace Ed Orgeron. It sounds like he understands how tough the league is, based on his comments about why the Tigers made a coaching change.

During an interview with Jacques Doucet, Kelly addressed LSU’s performance last season — just two years removed from a national championship. The Tigers went 6-7 overall and 3-5 in SEC play under Orgeron and announced mid-year it would be his last season in Baton Rouge.

Kelly pointed to the margin of error in the league, especially in a division that includes Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Alabama. But he also acknowledged the program “a slip” in the program standard which played a role in the decision to move on from Orgeron.

“When you’re in the SEC, if you slip a little, you slip a lot because the competition is so keen,” Kelly said. “I mean, look at what happened last year. They rise up and they beat an A&M and they play Alabama right to the very end. The margins are very small.

“Was there a slip of the standard? Certainly. But I don’t think that two years later, it was cataclysmic, but it was enough that a change was warranted by the administration. And that’s why I’m here: To make sure that we get back to the things necessary to bring this program back.”