The LSU Football Transfer Portal Approach: Will Brian Kelly Change His Ways?

LSU will enter an offseason where roster reconstruction will be a pivotal piece to success, but what will be Kelly's approach?

LSU Tigers Football.

Brian Kelly and the LSU coaching staff have entered uncharted waters after lossing a third consecutive game on Saturday to the Florida Gators.

The Tigers have fallen to 6-4 on the year with Kelly's streak of seven straight 10-win seasons coming to an end.

It's been an abysmal season for the program with a lack of consistency in all facets of the game, but a piece that continues being mentioned is the personnel issues on the current roster.

Now, with the offseason inching closer, December will be a month where LSU looks to reconstruct the roster via the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Kelly's approach throughout his first two seasons in Baton Rouge has been to lock down the portal entrants that have Louisiana ties.

We haven't necessarily seen the program open up the checkbooks to a significant degree thus far and Kelly alluded to that during the spring. LSU was in contention for several defensive tackles, but took the foot off the gas once the dollars that were being demanded reached an incredible number.

“We were in the market, in the transfer portal, looking for defensive lineman. It hasn’t fared very well, quite frankly, because we are selling something a little bit differently. And that is, we want to recruit. We want to engage, build relationships. We want to develop, retain, and have success. We’re not in the market of buying players. And unfortunately, right now, that’s what some guys are looking for. They want to be bought. … We’re not going to go out and buy players.”

It's imperative LSU hits the Transfer Portal with force. The talent-level on the current roster doesn't live up to the LSU standard along with the portal hit-rate being slim.

Kelly and Co. added eight players via the portal last offseason:
AJ Swann: Quarterback
Zavion Thomas: Wide Receiver
CJ Daniels: Wide Reciever
Gio Paez: Defensive Lineman
Jay'viar Suggs: Defensive Lineman
Jyaire Brown: Defensive Back
Jardin Gilbert: Defensive Back
Austin Ausberry: Defensive Back

Kelly and Co. then hit the spring portal window in search of defensive tackle depth headlined by a push for Michigan State's Simeon Barrow and TCU's Damonic Williams.

Both targets ultimately ended up elsewhere.

Now, heading into this offseason, will Kelly change his approach?

“The transfer portal will not go away,” Kelly said on Monday. “The transfer portal will be something we have to investigate and look at. I do not want a program that is built on the portal. We have to rely on young players. We are plying a lot of young players right now. A lot of first year players, those that have been here for a very short period of time. We have 19 coming in at mid semester, so we’re still going to be playing some younger players, but there needs to be the right mix and right balance. 

“The transfer portal will be something that will be examined closely and if we feel like there’s a particular need there to balance our football team, we’re certainly going to be invested in that.”

It'll be an interesting next few months for Kelly and the LSU staff. The shot-caller for the Tigers doesn't appear interested on loading up on talent from a quantity perspective, but the quality-level certainly must change.

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