Mike Leach on Brian Kelly: 'He's not a sweater wearer'

Mike Leach and Brian Kelly’s paths haven’t crossed very often throughout both men’s long careers, but the Mississippi State headman has admired Kelly from afar since stepping into the coaching scene decades ago.

Now set to face each other this Saturday when the Bulldogs travel to LSU to play the Tigers in Death Valley, Leach sung Kelly’s praises and noted nothing but respect for his SEC West counterpart.

“I’ve known him from a distance for a long time,” Leach said Monday. “I was in small college the same time he was, I’ve always liked him. He’s a guy that takes the X’s and O’s seriously. He’s not this business – there’s a few sweater wearers, you know, they just want to wear the sweater and point various directions and things like that, just kind of a PR figure.

“But he’s not that. He’s always been in the thick of it, a very knowledgeable X’s and O’s guy, so I’ve always liked him.”

Kelly is fresh off his first win as head coach of LSU – a 65-17 stomping of Southern last Saturday that saw his offense compile 550 yards, 320 of which came through the air. With the score being so lopsided, Kelly was able to put both Jayden Daniels and Garrett Nussmeier in for significant minutes. Nussmeier, the backup, actually passed for more yards (183) than the starter Daniels (137).

LSU was also able to rotate their top two running backs pretty evenly, as Armoni Goodwin and Noah Cain combined for 136 of LSU’s 230 rushing yards. LSU won’t have to worry about the running game from Leach’s team, though.

Utilizing the Air Raid system, quarterback Will Rogers has already thrown the ball 98 times through two games – an average of 49 attempts per game – which is fewer passes than Daniels has attempted all season (46).

Both coaches have their own unique schemes, and has been each other’s bread and butter through all of their successes. If one thing’s for sure, Saturday’s SEC matchup will serve as a battle between two of the most knowledgable minds in coaching today.