LSU’s Brian Kelly and Jayden Daniels revisit win over Alabama

By WVUA 23 Sports Reporter Juliet Brown

SEC Media Days kicked off on Monday and LSU was one of three teams to meet with media members the first day. The Tigers finished last season with a 10-4 record including a win 32-31 overtime win over Alabama. It was LSU’s first win over the Crimson Tide at Tiger Stadium since 2010, and the first win for LSU coach Brian Kelly beat Alabama in his coaching career. Kelly went 0-2 versus the Crimson Tide when he was the head coach at Notre Dame.

“It meant a lot obviously,” Daniels said. “(Coach Kelly) lost to Alabama in the national championship game. You know, it meant a lot to him to get that win. It meant a lot to the state of Louisana to get that win against Alabama at home for the first time in a while. It has just been fun getting to see Coach Kelly enjoy his time at LSU because if your coach is not enjoying it, then the players are going to look at that and not enjoy it also, so he is enjoying his time here and he is enjoying coaching us and we enjoy being around him.”

Last year’s win over the Crimson Tide gave LSU the tie-breaker in the SEC West Division race. The Tigers won out and earned a trip to Atlanta to play Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. Coach Kelly believes the win against Alabama and a matchup against the Bulldogs showed the nation his program is on the rise.

“Alabama and Georgia are the benchmark for what we’re looking for and what is that in particular? It’s consistency in performance year in and year out,” Kelly said. “We did it one time, so we’re not in that conversation at this point so, what we’re hoping it that it catapults us to is a more consistent football program that is competing for championships year in and year out.”

Playing in big matchups and success in those games helped LSU gain recruits.

“What it did for us is it helps us in recruiting, that we don’t have to paint a narrative that’s not true,” Kelly said. “In other words, we can say ‘look we’re going to compete with Alabama. We’re going to be able to beat Alabama. It’s not a fantasy, it’s a reality.”

The Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa on Nov. 4 for Kelly’s first game as LSU’s head coach in front of a presumably sold-out Bryant Denny Stadium.