Brian Kelly wrapped up a successful first season with LSU in a big way, leading the Tigers to a 63–7 drubbing of Purdue in the Citrus Bowl on Monday to cap a 10–4 campaign. After the game, though, at least some of the attention during Kelly’s postgame press conference was aimed at concerns for Kelly’s coaching staff going forward.
Kelly was asked whether all of his coaches were in “good standing” heading into the offseason. The question was raised after social media rumors began swirling online involving members of the LSU program, including LSU wide receiver Kayshon Boutte, who reversed his early December decision to stay with the program by declaring for the NFL draft on Wednesday and was subsequently deemed “unavailable” for Monday’s win by Kelly.
“Look, I hold our players to high standards, and they know that, and we have a high standard,” Kelly said. “We have a high standard. I’ve been in it for three decades. We have high standards for everybody that’s in our program, and that includes coaches and support staff and anybody that’s affiliated with this program.
“So they’re held to that highest of standard as well. There are no coaches or support staff that are currently with me that have done anything that would require me to feel as [if] they haven’t met the highest of standards that are required within our program.”
The Tigers wasted no time dispatching the Boilermakers on Monday, jumping out to a 35–0 halftime lead that swelled to 49–0 through three quarters. LSU amassed 594 total yards, with eight different players finding the end zone.
