Brian Kelly: No thought put towards retirement timeline

New LSU Tigers head football coach Brian Kelly is just a few months into his tenure in Baton Rouge, and he is trying to remain focused on the present. Kelly was recently asked about a potential timeline for his retirement, and the LSU coach admitted that he has put no thought into that yet.

As he takes over at LSU, Kelly wants to focus on what is directly in front of him, and he is excited to get things going with the Tigers.

“You know, I take it one year at a time,” Kelly said. “I didn’t know that I’d be the longest tenured coach, winningest coach in Notre Dame history. That was never part of that first first contract. You never think in those terms. You think about, I always wanted to make sure I ran out of the tunnel and didn’t trip my first game and embarrass myself and my family. So I really try to stay in the present. I know what my job is. I’m excited about it here, but again, I think looking too far in the future, I try to stay away from that.”

Kelly’s coaching career began as an assistant in 1983, and he got his first head coaching gig at Grand Valley State in 1991. He was there until 2003, when he took the Central Michigan head job. In 2006, Kelly was hired to become Cincinnati’s head coach. He then went to Notre Dame in 2010, and was there until LSU came calling after the 2021 season.

Kelly has coached to a 263-96-2 record in his coaching career.

Kelly isn’t focused on retirement, wants to win in 2022

A the end of last season, LSU’s roster was depleted due to injuries and other departures. That continued into the offseason, with a lot of movement to and from the roster through the transfer portal and to the 2022 NFL Draft. Kelly was tasked with rebuilding LSU’s roster, and that’s what he did.

As he begins his tenure at LSU, Kelly is focused on playing the game the right way, and he thinks that the Tigers can surprise people in 2022.

“I think playing the game the right way,” said Kelly. “Four quarters of football, a team that is competing. I am much more about process, and the outcomes have always taken care of themselves. If this team plays hard, plays smart, plays with the right traits, we’re going to win a lot of football games. And I don’t know if I’ve ever gone on into a season saying, ‘Hey, I think we’re going to lose three or four.’ I want to win every game we play. And we’re going to prepare to win every game.

“But we have some holes and we’re going to have to address through recruiting. I think everybody knows we had 36-39 scholarship guys when we went to play in the bowl game. But I think this is a football team that’s poised to surprise some people and I’m looking forward to it.”