LSU's Debacle Is Even Funnier When You Remember Their Special Teams Coach Was The Only Assistant To Follow Brian Kelly From Notre Dame
And in case you're wondering, yes, Brian Polian is the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian.
Anyway, it feels like those two pieces of media pretty much summarize the issues with Brian Polian. Toss aside any sort of nepotism for a moment. Let's just roll with what's been put before us from a pure results/relationships perspective. First, you're the type of odd duck who actually follows Brian Kelly after his scumbag, blindsiding move to announce he was leaving Notre Dame for LSU. Secondly, folks in Nevada, where you were the head coach from 2013 to 2016, still hate your guts.
Thirdly, the only player to tweet positively about you in the past several years that I could excavate is Pittsburgh Steelers head case Chase Claypool.
Claypool and Kelly are the most public endorsers I can find of Polian. Probably not a great sign!
ALSO, you might wanna sit down, Tigers fans: In case you didn't know, Brian Polian is your recruiting coordinator! I mean shit…getting players to come play for Brian Kelly's hardo ass in the SEC was going to be a tough sell as it was. As you prepare that new 2023 recruiting class, what're you gonna say? "Ooh yeah, check out our super disciplined special teams unit that I oversee!"
How are people gonna take this man seriously after what transpired Sunday night? Granted, Polian can't force Malik Nabers to not muff two punts.
Nevertheless, you'd THINK you'd manage to coach up your guys well enough in the trenches to avoid not one, but TWO blocked kicks, including an extra point that would've sent the game to OT!
PS not for nothing: Here's the 247Sports recruiting class rankings for Notre Dame when Polian was the Fighting Irish's recruiting coordinator from to 2017 to 2020 in order of years: 10th, 10th, 15th and 18th. One single 5-star recruit in that entire span. At one of the most celebrated football programs in the country. WOOF.
After ranking 12th in 2022 with an admittedly short turnaround to get sorted at LSU and the chaos of the new transfer portal/NIL rules, the Tigers have 22 commits for their class of 2023 and rank seventh nationally at the moment, albeit without any 5-star prospects so far.
Maybe the new location will help Polian tap into a pipeline of talent he's never had as good of a chance at before, and you never want to overreact to Week 1. That said, if LSU looks this bad against Florida State and struggles in conference games, are we going to see a swift series of flipped commitments and/or transfers? It seems like the Tigers' go-to receiver Kayshon Boutte is already checked out after the stunning season-opening loss. Boutte and Nabers have both suddenly scrubbed their Instagram accounts.
Doesn't bode well to what could already be underlying issues with Kelly and his staff, and the program in general, which has been a dysfunctional mess since that unforgettable 2019 national title run.
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