Coach Brian Kelly has played plenty of true freshmen his entire (two year) tenure with the LSU football program. You won’t catch him apologizing about it, either. When it comes to the game of football, he wants the very best out on the field, and if the best happens to be a freshman or two, you’ll find your way to playing time. This trend has continued into 2023, and he recently spoke about how it impacts things on the recruiting trail.
Coach Brian Kelly has never hesitated to play true freshmen on his teams
We’re just three weeks into the 2023 football season, and already, we’ve seen several impact true freshmen for LSU football. Among them are linebacker Whit Weeks, running back Kaleb Jackson and offensive tackle Zalance Heard.
This trend became a huge part of the team in 2022, as multiple true freshmen not only made an impact, but were some of the best players in the SEC. Names like offensive tackles Will Campbell, Emery Jones Jr and linebacker Harold Perkins Jr immediately come to mind.
On one hand, the significant roster turnover he faced in 2022 could be a big part of it. However, he’s repeatedly expressed that he’s just playing the best players available.
Chalk it up to whatever you like, but at the end of the day, it’s hard to argue with the talent he’s brought to Baton Rouge in just two offseasons.
This unique strategy lends directly to LSU football recruiting
When looking into the recruiting world, there are several major factors in deciding your future school. National championship contention, NIL, coaching and academics are some of the big ones that come to mind.
Another major factor is playing time, particularly with some of the best recruits in the country. For LSU football, this just so happens to be a strength, even despite being a 2023 national contender.
Coach Brian Kelly understands how much of a factor it can be in a recruitment. Whether it’s intentional or not, his coaching style also happens to play into it with perfection. Earlier this week, he discussed his decision to play true freshmen and how it could factor into recruiting.
“We’re recruiting young men that believe and have confidence in themselves that they can play right away,” head coach Brian Kelly began at Monday’s media availability. “And certainly, there are other factors that they consider now in making decisions on where to go. Looking at the depth chart and looking at, ‘well, can this help my NIL.’ I mean, there are other factors now involved in that.”
“So, what we can tell them, and this is what I tell them all the time, I’m not afraid to play freshmen, but I’m gonna play the best players. And if that is a freshman, I’m playing a freshman. If that’s a graduate transfer, I’ll play a graduate transfer. And I think our track record shows that the best players are gonna play. And if you’re a freshman and you can handle it mentally and physically, we’ll put you on the field.”
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