“LSU is set up for the future”: CFB Insider hails Brian Kelly’s secret weapon as Tigers gear up for 2025 season

LSU coach Brian Kelly presided over a mixed season for the Tigers last year that ended with a 9-4 record after heightened expectations at the start of the season. The season was also punctuated by key recruitment losses, including five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood flipping his recruitment to the Michigan Wolverines.

Off the gridiron, LSU general manager Austin Thomas was the first to hold the title in the SEC and he has been hailed as one of the best in his role amid the Tigers' administrative hiccups. During Sunday's episode of the "On3" podcast, CFB analyst J.D. Pickell hailed Thomas as Kelly's best weapon ahead of next season.

Pickell said that Thomas's role in LSU anticipates the evolution of the GM role in college football. The veteran executive handling administrative affairs like recruiting, dealing with NIL deals and managing the roster will allow Kelly enough leeway to focus on his coaching duties.

"If LSU is living in 2040 right now, with how they've structured their building...they're operating from a step ahead from everybody else," Pickell said. "LSU is in the best position right now structurally...with your G. M overseeing the admin part of your football team and also to ensure that you have a structure that it all goes to the right place."

"It allows Brian Kelly to do what he was brought there to do. Kelly of course has his hand in the roster and recruiting. It's a massive part of his job. But Brian Kelly is a football coach. So, when you have another guy overseeing all the admin stuff as the G. M, that frees up your coaches to be coaches," he added.

Last month, Austin Thomas was given a three-year contract extension that also raised his salary from $425,000 to $850,000, as per a Yahoo Sports report, showing AT's importance to Brian Kelly's setup in Baton Rouge.

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Brian Kelly broke down extent of a head coach's job

While speaking to the media in February, the embattled Brian Kelly revealed the extent of a head coach's job in college football, highlighting the need for a general manager, which Austin Thomas is for LSU.

"The head football coach today and the SEC in particular, it's a head coach-centric position, meaning contracts go through him, roster decisions go through him, decisions in terms of how you wanna play offense, defense and special teams, personnel, standards within your program, culture, there's a lot going on there," Kelly said.

"You can't be in those meetings all day and sit in your office and miss the relationships with your players. If you do that, you're a 'distant CEO' and not in this business very long."

In February, Kelly further removed the day-to-day operations of the football program from his docket when he promoted Jon Randall Belton to be the Director of Football Operations after being the LSU Tigers' Director of Recruiting. The school's website states that Belton's role will be to work with Austin Thomas to oversee the team's day-to-day operations.