$9.5/year is an outlandish salary for someone like Brian Kelly...who MIGHT be successful at LSU but probably won't be. He's a good coach, but LSU seems like a terrible fit for him.
Disagree. He's a Yankee for sure, so what I think you mean is he won't be as beloved as Orgeron was, who, although being shown the door, was very well liked by most LSU fans to the end (they just didn't want him coaching any more).
He has proven he can coach. It's also easy to observe that ND can get good, but not great, recruiting classes. Part of it is geography, part of it is the culture there doesn't appeal to some of today's athletes, and part of it is the academic and other items ND puts on the program.
Let me just quote Finebaum today "If Les Miles and Ed Orgeron could win national championships at LSU, what will Kelly do?".
Kelly looks at LSU and sees the recruiting base and talent they can get, and unconditional support from the admin (vs string put on him at ND), and probably drools. LSU has arguably the second best recruiting advantage in the conference. Their state is 6th nationally in terms of D1 recruits, but they have no instate competition and a lot of Louisiana kids want to stay home. Georgia has the best situation. I know Texas is no. 2 nationally and Florida 3, but there is tremendous in state competition as well.
Here are the state recruiting rankings as I recall them:
1. CA
2. TX
3. FL
4 GA
5. OH
6. LA
Bama is 7th or 8th
Bottom line, give Kelly SEC talent and see what he can do. Who cares about his personality or background? Orgeron fit really well. He is in Destin as I type.
