Bruce Feldman analyzes Brian Kelly's first coaching staff at LSU

It’s been a busy few months for Brian Kelly and LSU since his hiring in November. His coaching staff is done, and The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman broke down the new staff in Baton Rouge on The Paul Finebaum Show.

Kelly made some big hires this offseason, notably hiring Frank Wilson as associate head coach. Feldman noted that hire and said Wilson can be a great resource for Kelly, who’s never coached in the South before.

“I think it was key for him to get Frank Wilson there,” Feldman told Finebaum. “Frank Wilson is a former LSU assistant. He is really connected in the state, especially in New Orleans. I think that was important given there was a lot of turnover on that staff. Almost everybody’s new. … But I think ultimately for Brian Kelly, it’s going to be important to lean on Frank Wilson and some of the guys who have ties down there.

“Taking a step back from it, obviously people saw the comments he made at the microphone where he’s ‘family’ in the weird accent that he did and they’ve seen some of the dance videos. At the end of the day, Brian Kelly’s a really good coach. You don’t last as long as he did at Notre Dame and win as many games if he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

Bruce Feldman on how successful Brian Kelly can be at LSU

Feldman added the big question for him is how successful Kelly will be. His previous stops include Central Michigan in the MAC, Cincinnati in the American and, of course, independent Notre Dame. That’s drastically different than the SEC, especially the SEC West.

Considering he’s following Ed Orgeron, who won a national championship two seasons ago, expectations are high.

“The difference, I think, ultimately — and I think Brian Kelly’s a top-six or seven coach in college football — but now you’re in the SEC, and look at what’s in that division,” Feldman said. “Brian Kelly, as good as he was [at Notre Dame], he was not playing Alabama every year in the regular season. Also, now you’re getting Ole Miss is much better than it’s been with Lane Kiffin there. You’re getting Jimbo Fisher, [who] recruited a roster that is going to be ridiculous if he puts together another class like this. You still have some really heavyweight programs on the other side, especially Georgia. To get out of the SEC is asking a lot.

“So I’m fascinated to see how Brian Kelly does there. I think he’s a really good coach, but this is such a different landscape he’s jumping into. I could see him having some top-10 seasons, but that’s not the barometer there. The barometer is you’d better win national titles because the last three guys who coached there each have won national titles.”