LSU Football: Parent of recruit angry at Brian Kelly doesn’t make sense
By Zach Ragan
New LSU football head coach Brian Kelly ruffled some feathers when he left Notre Dame for Baton Rouge.
The Kelly to LSU move happened quick — really quick.
Kelly was on the west coast recruiting for Notre Dame when the LSU deal came together.
While Kelly was in-home with four-star wide receiver Tobias Merriweather, convincing him to stick with the Irish, the Notre Dame head coach had a good idea he was leaving for the Tigers.
And Merriweather’s dad didn’t take too kindly to the way Kelly handled the situation.
“You’ve been talking to (LSU) the whole time you’re sitting at the table talking to Tobias,” said Dom Merriweather to Irish Sports Daily earlier this month. “I would appreciate you not coming here and eating all my damn BBQ and walking out the door and 90 seconds later, you’re not even the head coach anymore.”
“As soon as you walk out the door, you’re on your way to LSU to eat gumbo,” added Merriweather.
I can somewhat understand Merriweather’s dad being upset.
However, I also don’t think Kelly did anything wrong.
Brian Kelly handled his exit from Notre Dame the right way
Kelly was recruiting for Notre Dame right up to the minute that he left for LSU. He didn’t disparage the Irish on the recruiting trail. And he didn’t try to point Merriweather in a different direction.
Nope. Kelly did his job. He did what Notre Dame was paying him to do. And he continued recruiting Merriweather — the No. 18 wide receiver in the country — to South Bend even though he knew he likely wouldn’t be coaching him.
Kelly had to do what was best for his career. And taking the LSU job is what he viewed as the best move for his future.
I don’t think anyone can fault Kelly for that — especially after all the time he’s put in at Notre Dame.
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At the same time, he made sure he left Notre Dame with class. Maybe some folks aren’t happy with how fast it went down, but no one can doubt that Kelly did right by the Irish — and recruits — while transitioning to his new job with LSU.