Paul Finebaum, Shannon Sharpe roast Brian Kelly for postgame tantrum after LSU loss
By Austen Bundy
ESPN's Paul Finebaum has a bone to pick with nearly every college football head coach, especially those in the SEC. But Monday morning on 'Get Up' Finebaum really laid into LSU head coach Brian Kelly for what was the third straight season-opening loss under his leadership in Baton Rouge, La.
"It's on [Brian Kelly]. And, don't give me this 'I need to do a better job coaching,'" Finebaum said. "You're paid 11 million dollars to coach into the game and throughout the game. Not acting after the game."
The ESPN personality was referring to Kelly's post-game press conference where the third-year Tigers head coach was seen visibly frustrated and pounding his fist on the table during an answer to a reporter's question.
"We had some guys play their butts off tonight, and we're sitting here again..., talking about the same things, about not finishing when we have an opponent in a position to put them away. But what we're doing on the sideline is feeling like the game's over. And I'm so angry about it, that I gotta do something about it, I'm not doing a good enough job as a coach," Kelly ranted.
LSU head coach Brian Kelly roasted by Paul Finebaum and ESPN personalities
Finebaum and Shannon Sharpe didn't take kindly to Kelly's comments.
"When Brian Kelly walked into that press conference and showed emotion then, it was too late," Finebaum continued. "I don't want to hear it after the game, I don't want to see his fist through the table after the game. I want to see it before the game and during the game."
LSU held a 17-13 lead for most of the third quarter into the start of the fourth before USC found the endzone for the go-ahead score. The Tigers found a way to tie the game at 20-20 with less than two minutes to play.
But the Trojans' offense marched down the field - assisted by a targeting call with 18 seconds remaining - and running back Woody Marks slipped in for the game-winning touchdown with just eight seconds on the clock.
ESPN's Shannon Sharpe joined the media dogpile on Kelly's post-game response by calling it "BS" on First Take.
"I think it's BS," Sharpe said. "I think he should've led with what he finished with, 'I'm not doing a good enough job.' ... You're not the coach you thought you were."
LSU's remaining schedule isn't as tough a gauntlet as it's previously had. The Tigers avoid No. 1 Georgia and No. 4 Texas altogether, and they'll have No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Mississippi and No. 16 Oklahoma at home in Death Valley.
But the challenge for Kelly will be getting a response out of his team, and a meaningful one at that, especially if his antics continue to dominate headlines instead of the on-field play.