Kelly's all about preparation, not speeches, as Tigers head to Arkansas
If there is anyone who didn’t know before about LSU first-year head coach Brian Kelly’s weekly in-season approach, it should be apparent he’s not a rah-rah guy.
And he doesn’t want to start now with No. 7 LSU on the verge of winning the SEC West Division title at Arkansas Saturday at 11 a.m.
“I've never been a guy that that subscribes to the theory that it's my job to motivate them (his players),” Kelly said at his weekly in-season Thursday night press conference.. “It's their job to motivate themselves.
"Building that kind of intrinsic motivation through their preparation is my job. I need to prepare them. That's my job and through preparation, they'll build confidence that they're ready to play.
“But if I got to go give rah-rah speeches and do all that kind of stuff, we're going to be an up and down football team. And that hasn't been the case."
After LSU's 32-31 overtime win over Alabama last Saturday in Tiger Stadium to grab control of the SEC West, Kelly said he has been pleased with his team’s approach the last several days in practice.
“We won't have any excuses for (not) performing against a really good Arkansas team,” Kelly said. “Our preparation has been good. Our attention to detail, all the things necessary to go on the road in the SEC and play a really good football team.
"Our guys understand what's at stake. But they stayed focused on the right things. They can't control anything else but their preparation.”
The one variable in preparation is guessing which quarterback will open the game for the Razorbacks in the wake of starter KJ Jefferson nursing a bruised clavicle in his throwing shoulder.
“I'll believe it when I see it is kind of how I've always prepared,” Kelly on the possibility that Jefferson won’t play.
Here’s Kelly on other subjects:
On the return of previously injured starting guard Garrett Dellinger
“He’s had a good week of practice, got a lot of reps. So, I think he's clearly going to be getting back into the rotation. . .we’ll insert him as the game kind of unfolds.”
On quarterback Jayden Daniels continued improvement
"A lot of it is technical, the proper footwork. It's being in the right position to throw the ball on time. I think the best illustration is the two-point play (pass to tight end Mason Smith for the game-winning points vs. Alabama). He (Daniels) would have not made that throw earlier in the year.
"So, it’s a combination of technically being sound and tactically understanding what's going on mentally and being in a better position because he's so much more confident. His preparation is so much better as the season has unfolded.
"And let's not forget, he's put on about since he's gotten here about 15 pounds physically."
On when LSU’s offensive line began to jell
"I think that when we started Emery Jones at right tackle. And Will (Campbell) at left tackle kind of solidified things for us. That's when the continuity and the consistency (began). That's when it started to kind of take hold and and really build an identity.”