Loss is an unfortunate reality in sports. For any athlete or team, losing is expected at one point or another, and one of the defining moments of character is how we handle that loss. Brian Kelly showed us an unfortunate insight into his following LSU’s loss this weekend.
The No. 5 ranked LSU Tigers took on the No. 8 Florida State Seminoles on Sunday night. According to ESPN, LSU became the only AP top-five team to drop its first game of 2023 in a historic upset loss.
After an action-packed first half, LSU was ahead 17-14, but the teams we saw after the locker room had completely shifted dynamics.
The Seminoles had 31 unanswered points before LSU had their one and only touchdown of the half with only minutes left in the game. With no time to recover, LSU lost 45-24.
While rankings were nothing dramatic like a true underdog story, the 21-point victory was unexpected. In addition to the betting odds, Kelly’s prediction and reaction tell us all we need to know.
Prior to the matchup, Kelly made a comment on the radio saying they were going to “beat the heck out of Florida State” despite having multiple inexperienced players on his squad.
Sports Illustrated said it right when they said, “That might be one of the worst things to say about a top-ten matchup and the opposition, and it’s hard to imagine that wasn’t used as a motivation tactic from the Seminoles.”
We watched the Seminoles play tirelessly against LSU and regain the upper hand. Their quarterback, Jordan Travis, accounted for five touchdowns, three of which were to Michigan State transfer Keon Coleman.
“Travis completed 23 of 31 passes for 342 yards and the four TDs,” ESPN said. “He and Coleman hooked up for a 40-yarder to start the scoring, added a 21-yarder late in the second to tie the game at 14, and then connected on a 7-yard fade in the fourth.”
While their running game was soft, their defense held strong and stopped LSU on multiple 4th-down attempts, a hallmark of Kelly’s.
After the game, rather than admit they were out-played, Kelly’s response was to pin his team with the majority of the blame.
“For some reason, we thought we were somebody else,” Kelly said. “We thought we were the two-time national champion Georgia Bulldogs. I don’t know what we thought, but we were mistaken.”
Kelly’s team was “certainly not the football team [he] thought we were,” and by that logic, I doubt he was the coach they thought he was. However, I am much less surprised.
I have known the name Brian Kelly since I started to really know the nuisances of football, which was around age eight.
However, the Kelly I knew was adorned in the beautiful blue and gold colors signature of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
For nearly 12 seasons, I watched Kelly coach and yell from the sidelines until his face turned cherry red. I saw him call awesome plays, and I saw him call some terrible ones, but the one thing I distinctly remember is how he treated his team and, more specifically, how he left them.
In 2021, his team was waiting to see whether or not they made the cut for the College Football Playoff. Kelly was taking his new job at LSU.
The best part, he didn’t tell them. The team instead found out from news reports. According to The Athletic, Kelly sent them a message long after it broke saying, “whoops, sorry,” and asking them to show up at 7 a.m. for a team meeting that lasted 11 minutes.
That is the legacy of how I see Kelly’s coaching. So when he ridicules his team for a loss he also was a factor of, I have to shake my head and hope he eventually learns how to be there for his boys.
This was only week one, his team has room to improve and the needed time to do so. They don’t face off against another ranked team until Sept. 30 when they face No. 20 Mississippi.
I’m not even surprised by Bryan Kelly anymore
Loss is an unfortunate reality in sports. For any athlete or team, losing is expected at one point or another, and one of the defining moments of character is how we handle that loss. Brian Kelly showed us an unfortunate insight into his following LSU’s loss this weekend.
The No. 5 ranked LSU Tigers took on the No. 8 Florida State Seminoles on Sunday night. According to ESPN, LSU became the only AP top-five team to drop its first game of 2023 in a historic upset loss.
After an action-packed first half, LSU was ahead 17-14, but the teams we saw after the locker room had completely shifted dynamics.
The Seminoles had 31 unanswered points before LSU had their one and only touchdown of the half with only minutes left in the game. With no time to recover, LSU lost 45-24.
While rankings were nothing dramatic like a true underdog story, the 21-point victory was unexpected. In addition to the betting odds, Kelly’s prediction and reaction tell us all we need to know.
Prior to the matchup, Kelly made a comment on the radio saying they were going to “beat the heck out of Florida State” despite having multiple inexperienced players on his squad.
Sports Illustrated said it right when they said, “That might be one of the worst things to say about a top-ten matchup and the opposition, and it’s hard to imagine that wasn’t used as a motivation tactic from the Seminoles.”
We watched the Seminoles play tirelessly against LSU and regain the upper hand. Their quarterback, Jordan Travis, accounted for five touchdowns, three of which were to Michigan State transfer Keon Coleman.
“Travis completed 23 of 31 passes for 342 yards and the four TDs,” ESPN said. “He and Coleman hooked up for a 40-yarder to start the scoring, added a 21-yarder late in the second to tie the game at 14, and then connected on a 7-yard fade in the fourth.”
While their running game was soft, their defense held strong and stopped LSU on multiple 4th-down attempts, a hallmark of Kelly’s.
After the game, rather than admit they were out-played, Kelly’s response was to pin his team with the majority of the blame.
“For some reason, we thought we were somebody else,” Kelly said. “We thought we were the two-time national champion Georgia Bulldogs. I don’t know what we thought, but we were mistaken.”
Kelly’s team was “certainly not the football team [he] thought we were,” and by that logic, I doubt he was the coach they thought he was. However, I am much less surprised.
I have known the name Brian Kelly since I started to really know the nuisances of football, which was around age eight.
However, the Kelly I knew was adorned in the beautiful blue and gold colors signature of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
For nearly 12 seasons, I watched Kelly coach and yell from the sidelines until his face turned cherry red. I saw him call awesome plays, and I saw him call some terrible ones, but the one thing I distinctly remember is how he treated his team and, more specifically, how he left them.
In 2021, his team was waiting to see whether or not they made the cut for the College Football Playoff. Kelly was taking his new job at LSU.
The best part, he didn’t tell them. The team instead found out from news reports. According to The Athletic, Kelly sent them a message long after it broke saying, “whoops, sorry,” and asking them to show up at 7 a.m. for a team meeting that lasted 11 minutes.
That is the legacy of how I see Kelly’s coaching. So when he ridicules his team for a loss he also was a factor of, I have to shake my head and hope he eventually learns how to be there for his boys.
This was only week one, his team has room to improve and the needed time to do so. They don’t face off against another ranked team until Sept. 30 when they face No. 20 Mississippi.