When it comes to reviewing the 2022 hauls, the reviews have been all over the map. Some would call LSU big winners on the trail this year after it was all said and done on Wednesday. Others will lump them in with first-year head coaches and call them the losers of the cycle.
Whether you agree or not, Cooper Petagna of 247Sports was impressed with the new man on the Bayou.
Calling Brian Kelly a lightning rod for college football pundits is certainly one way of looking at it. This isn’t some new phenomenon in Death Valley. It seems as though whoever the head coach is over the last couple of decades, the spotlight is on the head coach. From Les Miles to Ed Orgeron to Brian Kelly, they have all taken turns.
Brian Kelly’s short tenure in Baton Rouge has been nothing short of entertaining since arriving on campus in Louisiana’s state capital. Highlighted by fake accents and viral dance moves, Kelly has become somewhat of a lightning rod for the national media and college football pundits. Take all that away and zoom in on what matters, there’s a lot to like about what Kelly and his staff have accomplished in Baton Rouge in a short amount of time.
Sure the hip thing to do is make fun of Kelly for that fake accent attempt during the basketball game when he was introduced. Or stating people from Boston don’t have accents during halftime of the Texas Bowl. Or his cringe-worthy dance moves with quarterback Walker Howard and former target Danny Lewis Jr. It seems everyone is piling on the former Notre Dame head coach, it comes with the territory of leading the Bayou Bengals.
What you can’t deny is that what Brian Kelly is doing on the recruiting trails and the transfer portal seems to be working. His overall class ranked at No. 6 according to 247Sports. On3 gave them the No. 12 recruiting class. He loaded up this offseason in the short time he has been on the job.
Finishing with a bang on Wednesday, the Tigers wrapped up the No. 5 prospect in the country according to the Top247, beating out a couple of SEC foes for one of the nation’s best in linebacker Harold Perkins. In addition to Perkins, LSU is currently in command of the nation’s third best transfer portal class according to 247Sports.
All jokes aside, Kelly had a plan and executed it. Did they win every recruiting battle? No. Did they lock down the state? Also no. But given time to get his system in place and produce on the field, that should come soon. If Kelly gets LSU to eight or nine wins in 2022, it’s a win for the team. Especially considering they just finished the last two years with 11 wins combined.