The LSU coach finally spoke.
Brian Kelly, the coach at LSU, was taken aback by Nick Saban’s retirement earlier this year. It signaled the end of a 17-year tenure at Alabama that saw six national titles won. Before heading to the NFL and then back to the SEC, where he dominated for over a decade, Saban won his first at LSU.
In an interview with Paul Finebaum, Kelly remarked of Saban’s announcement, “First of all, I was surprised.”
The day he made the announcement, we were having a Zoom call, and everything was going according to plan. But Nick is that right? He is not the type of guy who will ever choose the simple route. He will work until the very last minute, I promise.
In addition to meeting again in the College Football Playoff and twice in the regular season each of the previous two seasons, Kelly also faced Saban in the 2013 BCS National Championship. In his first season at LSU, Kelly defeated Saban for the first time at Tiger Stadium with a two-point conversion in overtime.
The most titles ever won by a coach in college football history are Saban’s teams, with an astounding 11 SEC championships and seven overall national titles. More than any other program in poll history, his Alabama teams were ranked first in the Associated Press college football poll for a total of 109 weeks. Saban assisted in coaching 44 first-round draft selections while he was with the Crimson Tide, and that total is anticipated to increase in April of 2024 NFL draft.
Kelly described Saban as “the standard of what everybody is trying to achieve, which is incredible consistency at the highest level—championships.” “He set the bar and did it with class and distinction.”
Kelly also talked about LSU’s competitive football schedule for 2024, which includes a Las Vegas matchup against USC to start the season.
Kelly declared on Thursday, “This is what college football is all about.” “I came to LSU specifically to play this kind of schedule. That’s a packed schedule. It will be a challenging schedule, but if you can get through it, you’ll be well-positioned for the 12-team playoff. If you play well, you have a very good chance of making the playoffs with this schedule.”
