Brian Kelly addresses need to be demanding, not demeaning as coach
LSU head coach Brian Kelly is in the thick of fall camp, as he preps his team for their week one matchup versus Florida State just a few weeks away. Kelly and his staff have been coaching with a lot of intensity throughout Tigers camp, and Kelly addressed why that is, explaining his coaching philosophy.
“Well we’re demanding, we’re never demeaning. You can hear it by the way we talk to our guys, there’s no cursing, we’re never going to be demeaning to our players but we’re demanding. This is about graduating all our players and winning a National Championship, and you can’t do that if you’re just sitting on your hands out there so we’re going to challenge our players, that’s why they’re here at LSU, they wanna win a championship too,” Kelly said.
The effectiveness of Kelly’s coaching style is hard to argue, as he’s made a winner out of essentially every team he’s been the head coach of. From Notre Dame, to Cincinnati, to Central Michigan, even in his Division II coaching days at Grand Valley State, at all his stops Kelly has turned his teams into conference champions or double-digit win teams.
“So we’re going to be demanding, do it the right way and do it within the right positive coaching environment and make sure they know we still love them, but we’re gonna push them to be their very best,” Kelly said.
Hopefully for the Tigers, Kelly’s demand from his players combined with their hunger to win a title is a recipe for success, as they look to fulfill their championship aspirations that they achieved as a program just a few years ago in 2019.
Brian Kelly addresses Garrett Dellinger’s transition to center, practice struggles
LSU had some issues with their quarterback, center exchanges in their most recent practice of fall camp, as center Garrett Dellinger adjusts to his new position on the offensive line. Head coach Brian Kelly was asked if that was an area of concern and discussed what he’s expecting from Dellinger moving forward as the anchor of the offensive line.
“I think we’re at this point in practice twelve where I’m very demanding and will be from twelve all the way to the first game. He’s gonna be fine it’s really just about what we’re asking him to do is a lot more now other than snapping, if he was just snapping the ball he’d be fine, but we’re asking him to call out the front, he’s making the checks. He’s gone from playing guard to center and so this is a culmination now of all that being piled on and he actually feels comfortable snapping it now, so he’s not paying attention to the details of it so we’ll get it worked out. I’m not concerned about it, but I have to stay on him and make sure he’s aware that it affects the timing of the offense,” Kelly said.
Kelly was also asked about why he decided to Dellinger to center despite him not having any previous experience at the position.
“I think first and foremost just his ability to move, he’s got good lateral to move, size. Today you’re getting so much shade on the center, the days of playing a small center are starting to dwindle. You’re getting such big guys on the nose now, especially in third down situations, so he matched the criteria of somebody that can move and he’s 313 pounds,” Kelly said.
Dellinger started in four games as a true freshman last season on the Tigers offensive line, gaining valuable experience early in his career. Now he has to take a big step up in his sophomore year in a new position, but Kelly believes his football IQ along with his ability makes him the man for the job.
“I think the next criteria was his football smarts, he could handle calling out the fronts and picking up the things necessary. I think the best way to look at it is in most sports strength down the middle, the quarterback, the center, the centerfielder, the shortstop, whatever sport you want to play you want your smart athletic guys there, and he’s smart and athletic for his position,” Kelly said.