LSU football coach Brian Kelly discusses Texas A&M sans Jimbo Fisher

On Sunday, November 12, 2023, Texas A&M finally made the move. After six decent seasons in a row, the Aggies elected to cut ties with coach Jimbo Fisher. For LSU football coach Brian Kelly, this would mean that he was no longer preparing for a Jimbo-led team, but instead, interim coach Elijah Robinson. Earlier this week, coach Kelly spoke about what that does for his preparation ahead of this week 13 matchup.

Texas A&M entering second week after the firing of coach Jimbo Fisher

After two straight seasons of it being talked about, coach Jimbo Fisher has finally been fired by Texas A&M. When programs go through big-time coaching changes, such as the one in College Station, TX, it generally means one of two things will happen.

Either the team goes through a moment of clarity and rejuvenation, or things fall apart, and practically everyone enters the transfer portal almost immediately.

However, according to LSU football coach Brian Kelly, the Aggie program doesn’t appear to be going through either – yet. When asked about what differences he noticed in the team since the coaching change, he didn’t have much to elaborate on.

“No. No, the quarterback was different without Johnson being in there, but other than that, the offense is a little bit different. They tend to be in a little bit more of read option mode,” the Tiger head coach explained about the current Texas A&M offense.

omg moose pic.twitter.com/lKMVyG6C3T

— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 18, 2023

“Other than that, it’s still an aggressive defense,” he continued. “They still want to run the football; they still want to be balanced. But didn’t see anything different from them.”

Last week, the Aggies were thrown a bit of a softball in their first week without coach Jimbo Fisher as they faced Abilene Christian this past weekend. They came out on top 38-10 and didn’t face much resistance, so their matchup vs. LSU football in week 13 will be the true test.

Coach Brian Kelly focused on his own team, not an interim coach

In case anyone was unaware, LSU football coach Brian Kelly has been in the business for quite some time. In the midst of his 33rd season as a head coach, there are very few situations he has yet to experience as it pertains to college football.

So, when it comes to preparing for an interim coach, this is nothing new for the veteran Tiger head coach.

“You could spend the day thinking about, well, A&M is without a head coach. What’s their mindset? How are they going about this? I’ve been in this long enough to know that whatever side of that they come out on really doesn’t matter,” the LSU coach reflected when asked about preparing for interim Texas A&M coach Elijah Robinson in week 13.

Ahead of the 2023 season, coach Brian Kelly prioritized preparing his team for anything. Rather than focusing solely on game plans and coaches, he wanted to ensure his team was ready for anything.

“It’s about how we prepare. I just believe if we do a great job preparing, and we perform at our level, we’re gonna have success,” Brian Kelly continued. “We just have to focus on our preparation. We’ve gotta prepare really well against a good football team. And so, that’s how we’ll go about it.”

We’ll soon see whether coach Kelly’s strategy works ahead of week 13, as LSU football vs. Texas A&M will take place this Saturday. The game will kick off at 11:00 a.m. CST in Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, LA.

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