LSU Football: Brian Kelly is proving to be a major asset on recruiting trail

One of the first questions that folks had about Brian Kelly when he was hired as LSU Football‘s head coach last month was about how the former Notre Dame coach would recruit in Louisiana.

Kelly had never coached in the south before taking over for Ed Orgeron in Baton Rogue.

Would Kelly — a Massachusetts native who spent most of his career coaching in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana — be able to connect to recruits in the south — specifically in Louisiana?

So far, the answer is an overwhelming yes.

Brian Kelly is proving to be an asset for LSU football on the recruiting trail

When Kelly was hired, there were some folks who suggested he’d be fine in recruiting AS LONG as he hired a good staff with Louisiana connections.

Kellly did just that by hiring running backs coach Frank Wilson, wide receivers coach, Cortez Hankton, as well as retaining offensive line coach Brad Davis (all Louisiana natives).

Those were good moves. But those moves weren’t necessary for Kelly to recruit well.

That’s because Kelly is already an elite recruiter — regardless of where he’s at. And he’s proving this week while making the rounds in-state.

Isidore Newman High School coach Nelson Stewart made it known this week — via an interview with 247Sprots — that he’s been highly impressed by Kelly.

“Brian Kelly is awesome,” said Stewart.

“He just was so personable. Attentive and such an authentic person. I can tell he’s going to be incredibly successful.”

Stewart is five-star quarterback Arch Manning’s head coach — which means he’s seen a LOT of great college football head coaches in recent weeks/months (Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Lane Kiffin, etc).

It’s inevitable that he compares all of those coaches to each other. And it’s clear that Kelly stands out among that group.

That’s a great sign for LSU moving forward. It sounds like the Tigers are well on their way to continuing their in-state domination.