Brian Kelly reveals how tough a decision it was to make move to LSU and embrace changes within himself in interview

LSU head coach Brian Kelly sat down for an interview with Will Salvi of Entrepreneur.com that was released on Friday and revealed quite a bit about himself, the LSU program, and where he thinks college football is headed. But one thing that stood out more than most from the in-depth 26-minute feature interview was what he had to say about his transition from Notre Dame to LSU and how his view on himself and his role as the "CEO" of a program has changed over time.

Brian Kelly, like many head coaches, has faced plenty of scrutiny throughout his career. Especially most recently when it's come to the transition from Notre Dame to LSU and his perceived views on the NIL era . But Brian Kelly kicked things off in his interview talking about what leadership is to him and what it is not as he's dealt with criticism in recent years:

"Leadership is one where, you know if you want to be popular sell ice cream. [Leadership] is not one where it's a popularity contest as much as it is empowering those that are around you. Leading those that are around you. Getting them to be the best versions of themselves and not worrying about the criticism. It's about getting a football program to excel. You'll never really get a chance to explain yourself so don't worry about it. Move on to the things you have control over.

Brian Kelly has of course led four programs to rather impressive success throughout his career, but one of the most difficult parts of many head coaching journeys is transition between programs. When asked about the most recent move from Notre Dame to LSU it became quite clear how difficult a decision that truly was for him. Here's what Kelly had to say about knowing when it's the "right" time for a transition:

"When you look at making changes within your own personal development and growth, sometimes it's not just about you. It's about the people that are around you as well. And as you know, Notre Dame was going through a period of change...And so sometimes in a leadership position you're looking at transition as well. You're weighing, 'is it a good time for me to be a part of that transition.' So, I think you don't necessarily look at just your situation. You look at the tenor of the entire organization and the entire university in this instance...There wasn't anything about Notre Dame that I didn't love or didn't enjoy being part of. It was about timing. And it felt like the timing was right for me to move on for another challenge."

Notre Dame fans might feel that Brian Kelly's answer was a bit of cop out, but the truth of the matter is that there's never really a good time to transition. Kelly actually went on to mention this as any transition "always happens on somebody else's time".

In LSU's case, they wanted to make a move quickly because they needed a new head coach as soon as possible having just moved on from Ed Orgeron. And prior to that transition, Kelly brought up the fact that the news of him leaving for Notre Dame years ago actually dropped when he was sitting at the Cincinnati Football banquet! Transitions are difficult, no matter what or when they happen.

Related: LSU Tigers and Brian Kelly need to sit back and let Harold Perkins cook as their key to 2024 season success

And part of what's helped Brian Kelly transition well, finding success over the years, has been embracing change within himself. Embracing change in his role as the leader of a football program. Kelly explained that what has helped him immensely in recent years. It's been about empowering others around him more so he can focus on relationships and development of players.

"I think when you take on all those responsibilities on a day to day basis...giving up those responsibilities. And then having the mind set of, 'I'm not in charge of that.' What I'm in charge of is helping you do your job. Kind of diffusing that, and giving everybody the empowerment to do their job. Making sure they have the resources necessary to do their job so I can do what I love to do...[develop players]."

It was around the time of Notre Dame's losing season in 2016 when Brian Kelly realized he needed to change. He shifted his focus towards the little things, relationships, and key areas where the organization needs to improve instead of having his hand in everything. And since then Kelly has led Notre Dame and LSU to seven consecutive seasons with 10 or more wins.

It's that renewed vision and emphasis towards relationships, player development and retention, innovations in sports science (that he shared more in detail in the interview), and a handful of other changes that have continued giving Kelly an edge as the game constantly changes around him and the LSU program. The 2024 season will be a defining year for Kelly at LSU as he hopes to make the first 12-Team College Football Playoff, but it sounds like the right staff and internal processes are in place to do it.

Related: How LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly flipped the script on the NIL conversation in latest interview

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If you want to catch the whole 26-minute interview Brian Kelly had with William Salvi and Entrepreneur.com you can find that here in the video below!