WATCH: Brian Kelly reveals surprising fact about coaching in Death Valley
While speaking to Marty Smith and Ryan McGee of the SEC Network, Brian Kelly revealed a surprising fact. Despite being a college coach since the 1980s, and an FBS head coach since 2004, he’s never coached a game at LSU’s Death Valley.
So, the first time he experiences a game at Death Valley, he’ll be roaming the sidelines as the Tigers’ head coach. However, to say Brian Kelly is excited for that first game would be an understatement. After years of coaching in historic stadiums, this is going to be one of the greatest environments the winningest coach in Notre Dame history has ever seen and he’ll undoubtedly be happy that the fans there are rooting for his team.
“It’s gonna be one of the most explosive environments that I’ve ever been in,” Brian Kelly said.
Brian Kelly will coach his first game at Death Valley against Florida State on September 4, 2022. While he was at Notre Dame, Kelly coached numerous great games against the Seminoles, including an overtime win over Florida State to start the 2021 season.
ESPN ranks Brian Kelly as a Top 10 coach
ESPN recently released their rankings of the top ten coaches in college football. Brian Kelly made it as one of the best coaches in the game. ESPN broke up its coaches into four categories of top ten coaches, to try and compare coaches who are in similar situations with one another.
For Brian Kelly, who moved from Notre Dame to LSU, that means he was categorized as a national contender coach. That means that his team is expected to compete for a national championship. Among those coaches, Kelly was ranked fifth, in between Lincoln Riley and Ryan Day.
“Kelly was always up front about how national championships are the only goal that matters at Notre Dame,” wrote ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg. “While he didn’t win one, he guided the Irish to their most consistently successful stretch since Lou Holtz’s tenure…Anything less than a national title at LSU will be a major disappointment for Kelly.”