Brian Kelly has wild excuses for LSU's rampant transfer portal misses

This will be the third season Brian Kelly has been in charge of the LSU Tigers. Year three is the proverbial Kelly pop year. In year three at previous stops such as Notre Dame, Cincinnati and Central Michigan previously, Kelly's teams have gone to new heights. This includes getting to a national championship game at Notre Dame, making a BCS bowl at Cincinnati and winning 10 games at CMU.

However, you have to wonder if Kelly sometimes forgets he isn't in South Bend anymore. Otherwise, what else would explain why he is not all gung-ho about using NIL and the transfer portal to his advantage at LSU? He does not have the same limitations he once had at Notre Dame down in Baton Rouge. To me, it feels like he still wants to make excuses, rather than getting his hands a little dirty.

Ask yourself this. Doesn't this quote feel like a direct shot at major SEC rivals Alabama and Ole Miss?

"It hasn't fared very well quite frankly because we are selling something a little bit differently ... We are not in the market of buying players."

Here is the entire clip of Kelly speaking with WAFB's Jacques Doucet about LSU's recruitment.

No matter how I feel about Kelly's excuse making here, I really like his football team heading into 2024.

Brian Kelly is laying the groundwork for LSU Tigers' inevitable failures

Right now, I have LSU in the same group of teams in the SEC as Alabama, Ole Miss, Missouri and Tennessee. Auburn, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas A&M would absolutely love to be a part of the SEC's College Football Playoff hopefuls. See, Georgia and Texas are not part of this group, as they should be viewed as locks. Of course, Ole Miss and Missouri are about as close to being ones, too.

Even if LSU lost offensive stars such as Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. to the 2024 NFL Draft, they still have Garrett Nussmeier under center and Blake Baker coming back over from Mizzou to coordinate the Bayou Bengals' defense for Kelly. I would say LSU is most definitely in the conversation to make its second-ever trip to the College Football Playoff. Why not go for it then?

See, this is where Kelly loses me. He is acting like he is above using LSU's NIL resources to recruit players out of high school and in the transfer portal. While I would not say he is as pious as Dabo Swinney is at Clemson, he is coming across holier than thou for reasons I don't really understand. There are only so many playoff spots to be had. Do you want to be a part of the big dance or not?

Ultimately, this just feels like prefacing and posturing out of Kelly's mouth, you know, to soften the blow of another three-loss season and no playoff berth for the Bayou Bengals. LSU is more than well-equipped to contend for playoff berths annually, especially in the expanded format. Kelly's comments are all the more reason I am more bullish on Ole Miss and am starting to come around on Alabama.

Kelly may never be the king of the transfer portal like Lane Kiffin is, but only one is heading to Atlanta.