Brian Kelly reveals what went into buying home in Baton Rouge
LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly had more on his mind than lot size and bedroom number when purchasing his lakefront home in Baton Rouge. The former Notre Dame skipper shared his motivation to buy the 5,000+ square foot home located less than a mile from campus with the media this spring.
“It’s beautiful,” Kelly said. “There were a lot of things that went into that. We wanted proximity, it’s less than a mile from campus which allows us to entertain unofficial visitors. That was huge for us because we wanted to entertain. That is an NCAA rule. Proximity, we wanted to be close, … It would’ve been nice if it was a little cheaper but it seems like the real estate market in here is pretty hot right now.”
While the NCAA dictates unofficial recruiting visitors can only see coaches within a mile of campus, for official visitors, the radius is 30 miles from campus.
Kelly guessed that the Baton Rouge home, with a view of the stadium, is the seventh house he and his family have moved into.
Although the sale price on the home is unknown, it last sold for $1.8 million in 2019. The mansion was renovated prior to the LSU coach’s move-in. Kelly used $1.2 million allocated in his LSU contract for an interest-free home loan to make the purchase.
Kelly opens up on process of rebuilding culture at LSU
Brian Kelly is a program builder. Part of the reason he was brought to LSU was to rebuild their culture, and that’s exactly what he plans to do.
Still, you have to break some eggs to make an omelet. In an interview with Jacques Doucet, the former Notre Dame coach spoke about how he builds culture, and how to weed out some players who simply aren’t a good fit.
“You set a bar, and some know that they can meet and exceed that standard, and some really find that this is not what I can do,” began Kelly. “They’re going to look for an easier path. So, we just set those standards. We’re not looking to run anybody out of the program. I’m a player-development guy. I want guys to succeed.
So, we put a standard together — guys have to choose that this is what they want to do. Some just can’t reach that standard.”
It’s not personal for Brian Kelly, but if you can’t reach the bar he’s setting for his team, you’ll find yourself in a different uniform. LSU has needed a reset after the last couple of season, and it looks like they have the right man at the helm to lead the way.
On3’s Stephen Samra contributed to this report.