Brian Kelly’s third season at LSU did not get off to a great start. The Tigers lost 27-20 to the USC Trojans in Week 1 of the 2024 college football season. Afterward, Kelly threw a tantrum at the podium while speaking to reporters and received a lot of criticism for it. Everyone appreciates a little drama from a football coach, but the general consensus was that Kelly had overdone it a bit.
On Tuesday, Kelly appeared on Paul Finebaum’s show to talk about the season opener and the reaction to his public breakdown.
“The emotions of the game came out,” Kelly said. “The frustration and anger that these kids aren’t getting a chance because they’re working so hard to break through and they weren’t able to. That’s basically what it was about.”
When Finebaum noticed that Kelly did not appear to be hurt after slamming his hand on the table during his rant, Kelly was able to joke about it.
“I’m not strong enough to generate enough momentum to break a pane of glass,” the coach joked.
Brian Kelly’s post-game smash against Southern Cal went viral…a few days later he can joke about it and provide more context pic.twitter.com/emUeJOrVtD
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) 3 September 2024
When a coach gets so emotional at the podium after a game, the message he is sending is to his own players and coaches as well as to the public. Kelly wanted to let everyone at LSU know that he was very unhappy with the game.
On Saturday, the world will find out if the message has been received. LSU will welcome Nicholls to get back on its feet and turn things around.
