College football might owe Brian Kelly an apology.
The 2022 LSU Tigers are far from a perfect product under the first-year head coach, but here they are ranked seventh in the second edition of the College Football Playoff poll after their win over Alabama. That performance is a far cry from what we witnessed in Kelly's shaky debut against Florida State and again at home in a forgettable 27-point loss to the high-flying Tennessee Volunteers.
Now after beating two top-10 opponents (Ole Miss, Alabama), LSU is in the driver's seat of the SEC West and Mike Griffith joined College Football Gametime to discuss the surprising first season.
Just how big is it that Brian Kelly was able to take down the Crimson Tide in his first season as the head coach of LSU?
"Oh, it's huge," Mike Griffith told College Football Gametime on Saturday morning. "I mean, he beat Alabama and that is probably as little talent as Brian Kelly's ever going to have on his football team. They're only going to get better. This guy is good, this guy is really good."
When the Tigers made the splash of the 2022 offseason, people were quick to question whether or not he would fit down in Louisiana -- and the sudden change in his accent didn't help things.
The best way to fit in is to win, so put questionable dance moves and fake-cajun accents aside because Brian Kelly can coach.
"I know that we all got comfortable with the notion of, oh, well, he can't beat the SEC. No, Notre Dame can't beat the SEC," Griffith continued. "But the standards are a little different [at Notre Dame], and that's their own fault, by the way. Notre Dame's the one that chose to make it a little bit tougher to recruit Notre Dame. They’re the ones that haven't invested in areas like the SEC schools and some of the Big 10 powers.
"But Brian Kelly is still the winningest coach ever there. And before he was there, he did a hell of a job at Cincinnati. And before he was there, he did a great job at Central Michigan. And before he was there, he did a great job at Grand Valley State. This guy's a great football coach."
Never before has Brian Kelly had a program this willing to invest big money to compete at the highest level, but now he does, and he's already ahead of schedule.
The win over Alabama was big, but this could only be the beginning for LSU.