Nick Saban reveals message to Brian Kelly before taking LSU job
It was major news when Brian Kelly left Notre Dame for the LSU job. After all, historically speaking, Notre Dame is a job you never leave willingly once you get it. However, the Tigers were still able to poach him. Now, Alabama head coach Nick Saban has revealed the message he gave to Kelly before taking the job.
Nick Saban himself was a coach at LSU, where he won a national championship before trying his hand at the NFL. So, if anyone knew what to expect, it would be Saban.
Brian Kelly had actually called Nick Saban to get his thoughts on the job. On his weekly SEC Teleconference, Saban opened up about what that conversation was about.
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“Not to divulge anything that I talked to anybody else about, but LSU is–you know the people have great passion there,” Nick Saban said. “It’s a really good football job in every way. You’ve got a lot of really good players in the state and you’ve got great support and great passion.”
Obviously, Nick Saban wanted to keep the exact details of their conversation private, but you can tell that he appreciates the culture around the program. It can then be assumed that he conveyed that culture to Brian Kelly during their conversation.
“And he’d done a really great job of creating the sort of intangibles that you need to have to have a really good team. So, I’ve always thought LSU is a special place because of the passion and the people and the commitment they have to a standard of excellence.”
So far, Brian Kelly has done a good job steadying the ship at LSU. He has the Tigers sitting at 6-2 and ranked tenth in the initial College Football Playoff rankings. To this point, it’s been so far so good on Kelly’s decision to take the LSU job.
Nick Saban praised LSU
Going into their matchup, which could be incredibly important for the race to win the SEC West, Nick Saban praised LSU. In particular, he sees the development and talent on the roster.
“They got good players. Really good players. Quarterback’s playing really, really well. They’ve got great balance, they’ve got three really good running backs that all share the load. They’ve really got talented skill guys outside. They’re very efficient and effective in the way they’re executing the offense and the things that they do, and they present challenge. I think they’ve got some young players playing on offense that have gotten better and better and better. Two freshmen tackles, tight end, Jason Taylor’s son. Those guys are playing better and better all the time, too, and making plays and end up being very productive,” Nick Saban said.
“This is a really, really good team all the way around. Now, they’re starting a new system offensively, lots of new players. They’re starting to get confidence and believe [in] exactly what they’re supposed to do and how they’re supposed to do it. They’re playing really effectively.”