LSU Football: Parent of 5-star Tigers commit ease biggest concern about Brian Kelly

One of the biggest concerns (maybe the only concern) about new LSU football head coach Brian Kelly is about how he’ll adjust to the culture in Louisiana.

Kelly, a Massachusetts native, has never coached south of Cincinnati. He has no SEC experience. And he certainly doesn’t have much experience navigating Louisiana.

Last week, when Kelly was introduced to Tigers fans at an LSU basketball game, he appeared to talk with a newfound southern accent. I thought the whole thing was blown out of proportion. I think he was just taking his time with his speech and trying to connect with fans.

But this is the age of hot takes, so of course Kelly got attacked for it.

Don’t let that speech at the basketball game alter your view of Kelly. He’s going to fit in just fine at LSU. Take it from folks who have spent some time with him in recent days.

Walker Howard’s dad is a big Brian Kelly fan

2022 five-star quarterback Walker Howard, an LSU commit from Lafayette, recently spent some time visiting with Kelly.

Howard’s father spoke to 247Sports about the visit with Kelly and they made it clear that he’s a big fan of the new Tigers head coach.

Howard’s father, Jamie, said Kelly is a “very personable and a very genuine man”.

He also said he doesn’t think Kelly will have any issues adapting to the culture in Louisiana.

“If people worry about him not being from here, he isn’t going to have any problem relating with the culture,” said Jamie Howard.

That should put any talk about Kelly struggling to “fit in” to rest. Parents of recruits often get to know head coaches intimately. The fact that one of the Tigers’ top in-state commits is a big fan (along with his family) tells us all we need to know about how Kelly will fit in at LSU.