Greg McElroy gives LSU HC Brian Kelly a 50% shot at national championship victory: "I think Brian Kelly is elite"

Much was expected of the LSU Tigers last year under Brian Kelly and a revamped staff, but a leaky defense kept them from the College Football Playoff despite quarterback Jayden Daniels winning the Heisman Trophy. LSU finished 10-3, its second consecutive 10-win season in two years under Kelly, but the three losses all highlighted the porous defense.

On "Always College Football," analyst Greg McElroy, who won the 2010 national title for the Alabama Crimson Tide, was upbeat on the chances of Kelly having a chance of winning a national championship.

“I think Les Miles (who took LSU to the 2007 national title) is a solid coach; I don’t think he’s elite," McElroy said. "I think Ed Orgeron (who took LSU to the 2019 national title) is a solid coach; I don’t think he’s elite.

"I think Brian Kelly is elite. That’s why I think the percentage chance that he will win a national championship at LSU is 50%. Now, remember, people are going to hear that, they’re going to say ‘50%,' I mean, that seems a little low, or perhaps seems a little high. Winning a national championship is outrageously difficult. Outrageously difficult.”

LSU lost its season opener 45-24 to Florida State after leading 17-14 at halftime. The Tigers fell at home to Ole Miss 55-49 in late September despite leading 49-40 with eight minutes remaining. And LSU lost 42-28 at Alabama in November after leading 28-21 four minutes into the second half.

Brian Kelly caught in NIL-transfer portal controversy

Brian Kelly has reached a national championship game before (at Notre Dame) and going into next season, he is considered one of the best coaches in the country and No. 5 in the Southeastern Conference, according to Sporting News.

In an interview with Baton Rouge sportscaster Jacques Doucet last week, Kelly addressed the issue of the Tigers being unable to recruit defensive tackles even though it's one of the few rooms at LSU that's light on numbers.

The Tigers missed out on Damonic Williams (a TCU defensive tackle who transferred to Oklahoma) and Simeon Barrow (who transferred from Michigan State to Miami).

"We're not in the market of buying players," Kelly said. "Unfortunately, right now, that's what some guys are looking for. They want to be bought.

"If you like all the things that we do here in developing our players, bringing you into a championship program, playing in front of the best fan base in America, playing for championships and having an opportunity for NIL, you should be a Tiger. But if you just want to get paid, this is not the place for you."

In the college football world, the words were taken to mean that the LSU coach who is on a long-term contract is against using NIL to bolster his team, and he was criticized, especially for not attending to a major point of need for his team.

Brian Kelly has a 165-68 career record, 20-7 at LSU. Tigers fans will hope that their team can take the next step under its championship-winning coach despite his reluctance to use NIL to recruit.