Coach Brian Kelly describes star LSU wide receivers as “old fashioned”

In today’s age of college football, star players opting in for a bowl game is a rarity at this point. In the case of the Tigers, coach Brian Kelly has the bonus of several future NFL draft picks returning for the upcoming ReliaQuest Bowl. On Friday, coach Kelly spoke about star LSU wide receivers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr sticking around for one more game.

Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr made the rare decision to return for one more game with the Tigers

The LSU offense in 2023 was truly one of a kind. It’s not often you get the chance to see two elite wide receivers on one team, but that’s exactly what the Tigers had.

Through 12 games, junior Malik Nabers led the country in receiving yards, largely thanks to his ability to turn nothing into a big play. On the other side of the hashes, fellow junior Brian Thomas Jr led the country in receiving touchdowns with his combination of size, speed and strength.

Malik Nabers had a receiving grade of 93.5, which was the best in the NCAA in the 2023 season, per PFF. pic.twitter.com/ZVmlyWlnmT

— Nick Penticoff (@NickPenticoff) December 30, 2023

Jayden Daniels 🎯 to Brian Thomas Jr. for the touchdown. pic.twitter.com/aaKLVqnAID

— Nick Penticoff (@NickPenticoff) December 23, 2023

While both could end up going as high as the first round in the upcoming NFL draft, they weren’t exactly done yet with college football and will play in the rapidly approaching ReliaQuest Bowl vs. Wisconsin.

Coach Brian Kelly speaks on star LSU wide receivers opting in for ReliaQuest Bowl

Why they elected to come back for one more game? It’s hard to figure out any one specific reason, but it didn’t exactly seem to surprise coach Brian Kelly.

“It’s 90 percent what they’re built like and 10 percent they love to play football,” the Tiger head coach said about the star LSU wide receivers on Friday. “They love their teammates, they loving playing football and look, everybody plays this game, and I think the core of it is you’ve gotta love to play.”

The purple and gold plenty of reason to come out and perform this year, as the Tigers are searching for a 10th win for the second year in a row.

“You can’t be playing for other reasons,” coach Kelly continued. “If you love to play this game and you love it for the old fashioned reasons of ‘I love my teammates, I love playing for LSU,’ then you’re gonna have guys playing these games.

“These two in particular, also in Malik’s case, he’s got some things that he wants to individually accomplish too. And that’s okay. That’s okay because he starts with the premise of ‘I want to play with my teammates and finish this out, and I love to play football.'”

Having already broken the school record for career receptions, reaching 186 vs. Texas A&M, Malik Nabers now has the chance to break one more before he heads to the NFL. With 2,980 career receiving yards, he’s just 22 yards away from the No. 1 spot, currently held by Josh Reed.

You’ll be able to watch the pair lineup for one more showdown this coming Monday as LSU will face off against Wisconsin in the 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl. The game will take place on New Year’s Day in Tampa, FL, and will be broadcast live at 11:00 a.m. CST on ESPN2.

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