"You can't get away with that": Insider highlights Brian Kelly & Co.'s missteps affecting LSU's natty hopes

Brian Kelly and LSU are left to wonder what could have been, having gone 29-11 during his first three seasons in charge. Fox Sports college football analyst RJ Young warned the Tigers to take heed of their past failures and cough up the money required to import elite prospects going forward.

Young spoke about LSU's NIL situation Tuesday on his podcast, "The Number One College Football Show."

"At LSU, a place that prides itself on winning and wants to win championships, I found it funny that they would be so elitist, being that they are boujee and they are Baton Rouge," Young asaid. "The French, what can I tell you? You can't get away with that, and think about it this way. If you had paid $20 million to put some more people around Jayden Daniels, how much better would your football team have been.

"Would you have had a defense that did not embarrass you as we get to see Jayden Daniels throwing passes to Brian Thomas Jr. and Malik Nabers, and then you've got an All-American defense. Could you have been 2024 Ohio State? Could you have been 2023 Michigan. Could you have been 2022 Georgia?"

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Young believes Kelly and LSU are beginning to apply the lessons they've learned, having opened up their pockets to acquire and keep talent.

"Now, we've seen LSU actually having regret not spending as much on players as they possibly could have," Young said. "Last year, last May, actually, Brian Kelly said, 'We're not gonna be in the market for buying players.' Now, they spent about $16 million on new players, and old players, frankly.

"Harold Perkins came back because of what he's getting paid, among other things."

According to Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger, LSU has spent $12 million combined over the past three seasons. Young pointed out that Ole Miss and Florida State are rumored to have spent $12-13 million just last year. Meanwhile, 2024 champions Ohio State reportedly spent $16 million more than LSU on NIL last season.

CFB analyst gives his opinion on Brian Kelly

In January, former LSU defensive lineman Booger McFarland gave his thoughts on what Brian Kelly could accomplish at the helm, including maybe someday hosting a College Football Playoff game in Death Valley.

"You know what? I don't want to imagine it. I want to see it," McFarland said. "That's what I text (Brian Kelly) all the time. Like, it's time, you know. I don't want to imagine it."

McFarland added that Kelly is aware of the pressure of his job. The three head coaches who roamed LSU's sidelines before him — Nick Saban, Les Miles, and Ed Orgeron — won national championships. That is the expectation for that program, and if Brian Kelly doesn't soon start to show that he can live up to it, his job will be in question.