Brian Kelly opens up about Dominick McKinley and his recruiting process

In the waning hours of 2023, the LSU Tigers were preparing to kick off the ReliaQuest Bowl against Wisconsin at 11am the next morning, but even with game preparations at the forefront of his mind, Brian Kelly had something else brewing behind the scenes.

Dominick McKinley, the No. 1 ranked player in the state of Louisiana, was originally committed to Texas A&M. However, the Lafayette native was beginning to have doubts about his commitment after the news that Jimbo Fisher was let go in November.

McKinley was a top target for the Tigers in the 2024 class as Brian Kelly attempts to "lockdown" the state of Louisiana. He already had commitments from eight of the top-10 players in the state, but he needed to convince the five-star to stay at home.

Finally, after over a month of recruiting the top player in the state, McKinley announced he was flipping his commitment to LSU at midnight on New Years Day (11pm CT on NYE for those of us in Louisiana. McKinley was in Orlando when he announced the flip).

We hadn't gotten the chance to talk to LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly about McKinley's commitment until he officially put pen to paper on national signing day. Brian Kelly opened up his national signing day press conference with a statement about McKinley:

"We had one player in the state of Louisiana sign [today]. He happens to be the No. 1 player in the state of Louisiana, so we wanted to give him the due respect. Dominick McKinley out of Acadiana High School signed with us this morning. We're excited about him, a consensus five-star defensive lineman. I think that's eight of the top-12, 12 of the top-15 players in the state of Louisiana that we were able to sign in this class. Certainly adding Dominick to this class really tops it off for us. Really excited about his national letter of intent this morning."

Brian Kelly

Getting McKinley to flip his commitment to LSU was no easy task. The reason he was willing to leave A&M was because of the coaching change, but LSU didn't exactly have a stable coaching situation either.

Yes, the big guy Brian Kelly was still here, but there was a lot of uncertainty about the defensive coaching staff. At the time that he announced his commitment, Matt House and Jimmy Lindsey were still heading the defense/defensive line, but changes seemed to be imminent.

Kelly talked about the process of flipping McKinley's commitment in the midst of potential coaching changes:

"When we're talking about the flip, certainly the coaching change there started it, right? It gave us an opportunity to continue to talk about why we thought this was the best fit for him. During that time, when there's a transition, you're able to build a stronger relationship and trust. A lot of these are built upon that. We did not have a consistent situation either at the defensive line position. We were fighting against it on both ends, so we had to solidify our situation and build some continuity there. The window was open with the transition at A&M, and we just became consistent with our ability to get with him and his family and show them why this was the best choice."

Brian Kelly

In the end, all the hard work and effort it took to get McKinley to LSU paid off. The top player in the state is staying home as the Tigers lock down nine of the top-10 players in the state of Louisiana.

McKinley enters a defensive line room that should give him plenty of opportunities to earn playing time right away. With a lot of contributors leaving, there is a gaping hole at defensive tackle, so with a good offseason he could find his way onto the field as a true freshman.

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