Yardbarker
x
Brian Kelly leads LSU to 10-win season in first year
LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly. Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports

Brian Kelly leads LSU to 10-win season in first year

By Andrew Kulha  |  Last updated 1/2/23

People scoffed at Brian Kelly after Week 1 of the college football season. 

His LSU Tigers had just lost a heartbreaker to Florida State and Kelly appeared out of his comfort zone coaching down south after a resume that featured Central Michigan, Cincinnati, and then Notre Dame for the first 19 years of his coaching career.

Nobody is laughing at Kelly now, though, especially now that his Tigers are fresh off a 63-7 drubbing of the Purdue Boilermakers in the Citrus Bowl. 

Sure, Purdue is a program in transition and disarray, but Kelly's team dominated from whistle to whistle en route to picking up LSU's 10th win of the season.

To put LSU's season in context with Kelly's career, he didn't get past eight wins at Notre Dame until his third year with the program. 

In Year 3, he took the Fighting Irish to the BCS Championship Game and finished the season with an almost perfect 12-1 record.

Championships are the goal at LSU just as they are in South Bend, but it's perhaps even more important in Baton Rouge. 

Heck, former head coach Ed Orgeron got fired just two seasons after leading the Tigers to a 15-0 record and a College Football Playoff championship.

With that in mind, starting off on the right foot was incredibly important for Kelly, and he accomplished just that in year one. 

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

+

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.