When you talk to Brian Kelly, it becomes clear that only part of the LSU football equation is actually about football.
What players do when no one is holding them accountable is often just as important.
"Everything from what you eat late at night when no one's watching you, to what time you go to bed, to the people you hang around with. All of those things are part of a process of making choices and making good choices that are championship habits, and championship teams have those habits," Kelly said. "And look, they have choices, right? They can choose to be average, or they can choose to be excellent and elite. And you know, to be elite to be excellent, you've got to do hard things. You've gotta go to bed early. You know, you got to turn your cell phone off. So that's kind of what I'm talking about more so than, you know, how they ran the route or what play was called."
Getting those things right is a process, and one LSU is still finding its way through six games into the Brian Kelly era. The next matchup in that process will be on the road against Florida, another team shifting to a new coaching regime for former UL coach Billy Napier.
The Gators have taken a similar road to LSU. They have an impressive win over Utah to their credit in the season-opener, but lost their first two SEC games (Kentucky and Tennessee).
MORE FROM BRIAN KELLY
INJURY UPDATES
Freshman LT Will Campbell is expected to be back in the action this week after he was hospitalized for dehydration issues prior to the Tennessee matchup. That's a positive. But Garrett Dellinger will not be out there.
That will cause some shuffling along the line. Miles Frazier will likely shift to RG, while Anthony Bradford takes over at RT.
- LB Wes Weeks. ... Ankle sprain. He was limited during the week, but he's expected to play vs Florida
- RB Armoni Goodwin. ... Hamstring. He's ahead of schedule, but will not be active against Florida. He could be cleared as early as next week.
- S Major Burns. Neck ... expected to return Alabama week
- CB Sevyn Banks. Neck ... working with trainers, still no timetable for return
THOUGHTS ON BILLY NAPIER
"He did a great job at Louisiana. And look I know the climb, right? Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, you know, Cincinnati, you have to do so much more with less, and he did a great job and put a consistent winner out there and you have to be creative," Kelly said. "You have to be willing to take chances. You got to put together a great staff, you have to build great relationships, he's done all those things. He's at this level because he's earned it, he didn't do it because he got lucky.
"And he'll do great at Florida, he's a great hire for Florida. ... We both have the same challenges. We're rebuilding our rosters you know, we've run into each other and they're recruiting, you know, as we're trying to build up the depth on on our teams. You can see that we're out there in the recruiting world. So that's probably where we'll see each other a lot over the next few years."
LSU has won their last two matchups with the Gators.
IS THE PASSING GAME WHERE YOU WANT IT TO BE?
"I think the passing game has been up and down. I think that, you know, you just need to look at the statistics. I think, at Auburn, we were less than 100 yards passing. This past weekend, we were you know what, 250-275. I think we got to 300, but that was late in the game where they were playing prevent, you know, the ball from going in the end zone. So I think it took some strides forward. But I would call it inconsistent at this time, and it needs to be much more consistent. And that's why we were 4-2, you know. So we need more consistency in the passing game. And I think we've taken some steps forward where we're better than we were at the start of the year. But we still have some room to grow."
WILL JOE FOUCHA SEE MORE ACTION THIS WEEK?
Safety Joe Foucha saw his first action of the season against Tennessee, but it was limited. That was due, mostly, the the Vols' offense and the matchup. It's something that is expected to change this week.
"He's much more of a downhill, close-to-the-box safety. Jarrick [Bernard-Converse] is much more a space, cover safety. And we just felt more comfortable with him in the game plan. Joe is going to be asked to do a lot this week, so you'll see a lot of them in the game plan this weekend."
