Scott Rabalais' top three takeaways from LSU coach Brian Kelly at SEC media days

1. Closing the gap on Georgia
Brian Kelly got LSU to the 2022 Southeastern Conference championship game, but once the Tigers were there, the gap with national champion Georgia was evident to all. Kelly included. He’s confident, but realistic. “I know based upon how we’ve recruited and how we’ll continue to recruit that we’ll be able to compete against Georgia. Is that right now? No, it’s not. But if we continue to do what we’re doing, it’ll be a matter of doing it on the playing field so everyone can assess whether we’ve closed the gap.”
2. Embracing changes like AI
Asked Monday about the impact of artificial intelligence on football, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said he hadn’t given it a thought. Kelly called it “an intriguing opportunity. We spend a lot of time on recruiting profiles. AI has an opportunity to maybe create that kind of model for us.” At 61, Kelly could balk at things such as AI, NIL and the transfer portal. Instead, he’s figuring out how to use them to LSU's advantage. It’s a reason why he’s winning at a level other coaches are not.
3. Setting tone at running back
Kelly said he is optimistic about running back John Emery being academically cleared in time for the start of preseason practice. LSU has brought back Armoni Goodwin (still recovering from a knee injury) and added Notre Dame transfer Logan Diggs, a Rummel graduate. Kelly said the Tigers need that running back depth to run the kind of offense he wants. “We want to play physical football. When we talk about our running game, it’s about having physicality up front. I think we’ll have that this year.”