College Football HQ

Brian Kelly reveals why LSU canceled spring football game

While most college football coaches appear to be concerned with tampering, Brian Kelly and LSU chose a more football-focused reason why to go away with the spring scrimmage.

James Parks

LSU joined a growing list of college football programs doing away with the spring game.
LSU joined a growing list of college football programs doing away with the spring game. / Andre Broussard/ Special to The Daily Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK
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LSU joined a growing and prominent list of college football programs to decide against playing a spring game this year, but head coach Brian Kelly sounded less concerned with potential tampering than he was in just getting more of his players more meaningful reps.

“As I looked at the spring practice itself and the game, I think what was more important to me, where we are as a football team, was to get all of our players an opportunity to get reps,” Kelly said. 

He added: “Sometimes, you don’t get the equal amount of reps in a spring game. We have some young players that need some practice time. This will give everybody an opportunity.”

The major narrative around spring football cancellations appears to be a concern among coaches that they are giving rival schools what amounts to a free try-out for reserve players, who can then be lured somewhere else in the transfer portal before the season starts.

But for LSU, the primary motivation is getting his backups more exposure than they otherwise wouldn’t get in the traditional scrimmage format.

“You don’t have to worry about splitting the squad,” Kelly said. 

“You don’t have to worry about some of the nuances that splitting it up and having two teams sometimes makes it difficult for you to get the matchups that you want. 

“I can simply go ones-versus-ones and have some really good matchups that can test our players. So I just think the format of a spring game for us, in this fashion, just makes more sense, and allows us to continue to work on the things that we need to get better at.”

You can see a live list of what college football programs are abandoning the spring game here.

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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.

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