Paul Finebaum calls out Brian Kelly's transfer portal activity

Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers were in the mix to make the College Football Playoff and the SEC championship game for most of the season. However, a disastrous three-game losing streak starting in late October knocked them out of the playoff picture. As a result, Kelly is likely one of the coaches who will be on the hot seat early next season.

Since arriving at LSU, Kelly has been cautious about spending too much NIL money in the transfer portal. However, this offseason he has been aggressive in pursuing transfer portal players. The Tigers have 10 commitments and have the third-best transfer class this offseason, according to 247Sports.

On Friday, a new episode of "The Paul Finebaum Show" was released. On the show, veteran journalist Paul Finebaum talked about Brian Kelly's newfound commitment to aggressively pursuing players in the transfer portal.

"He looks like a coach to me that knows he's out of mulligans," Finebaum said, per On3. "This isn't the Brian Kelly of last year going, 'A million dollars, we don't need to spend that for a defensive lineman.' He is going full board, and so far this season, it's a pretty high level of success."

Kelly and LSU have been hard at work and have 10 commitments already. They include four-star recruits, Virginia Tech cornerback Mansoor Delane, Florida edge Jack Pyburn and Kentucky wide receiver Barion Brown. Although monetary figures have not been released, it is reasonable to presume that the Tigers have spent NIL money on some of these top transfers.

Brian Kelly took a step back from the transfer portal last offseason

Kelly arrived at LSU in 2022 and immediately got to work in the transfer portal. He helped the team grow and had a top-four transfer portal class in both of his first two offseasons in 2022 and 2023. However, he was much more cautious in 2024, as LSU only had the No. 43-ranked class. This weak transfer portal class contributed to LSU having its worst season since Kelly arrived.

Before arriving with the Tigers, Kelly was the coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for 12 seasons. He came to LSU in 2022 and had immediate success. He led the Tigers to an SEC Western Division title. The next season, although he did not have as much success, the team still had 10 wins and won the ReliaQuest Bowl.

However, 2024 was the worst season LSU has had since Brian Kelly arrived. Despite the team getting out to a strong 6-1 start, it then went on a three-game losing streak, falling to Texas A&M, Alabama and Florida. This knocked the Tigers out of the playoff picture.