It may seem like just yesterday that Brian Kelly stepped up to the microphone with a ridiculous, Benoit Blanc-inspired accent to say hello to the fine folks in Baton Rouge for the first time after being named the head coach of the LSU football program, but in reality, it's almost been three years since that iconic day. In just two seasons as the Tigers head coach, Kelly has already done exactly what LSU hoped he'd be able to do… continue to keep LSU relevant and competitive in the NIL/Transfer Portal era of college football.
Brian Kelly has gone 20-7 with two bowl wins in his two seasons as the Tigers' head coach, while also reestablishing LSU as one of the top destinations in the country for any and all players who are serious about competing for championships and eventually heading to the NFL. That apparently includes 2025 4-star recruit Kade Phillips.
“BREAKING: Four-Star CB Kade Phillips has Flipped his Commitment from Texas to LSU,” tweets Hayes Fawcett of On3. “The 6’1 180 CB from Missouri City, TX had been Committed to the Longhorns since July. Ranked as a Top 65 Recruit in ‘25 (No. 7 CB) per On3.”
Kade Phillips is not just a standout football player down at Fort Bend Hightower High School, he's also a track and field star who has excelled at the state level in Texas in both long jump and the 200m sprint. But once he steps onto campus in Baton Rouge, Chip Kelly will need to see more than just Phillips' speed on display. Phillips has been touted as a “sound open field tackler” by Hudson Standish of 247 Sports. That will be put to the test right away by the most dynamic wide receivers that the SEC has to offer.
At the moment, only Ohio State's lauded 2025 recruiting class ranks ahead of LSU's, according to 247 Sports. Fellow SEC powerhouses Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee and Texas A&M are all in the top ten. The Tigers have already signed 24 players, the same number as the Buckeyes, and 20 of those 24 players are either five-star or four-star recruits. Wilson Alexander of NOLA News took to Twitter to note that LSU has now signed four defensive backs in the 2025 recruiting class, and let's just say that length won't be something that this secondary lacks.
“LSU has four DBs in the 2025 class. One trait they all share: length,” tweeted Alexander following Phillips' flip. “DJ Pickett: 6-4, Kade Phillips: 6-1, Jhase Thomas: 6-1, CJ Jimcoily: 6-3”
Can Brian Kelly lead LSU to College Football Playoff in 2024?
Brian Kelly and the Tigers may end up with one of the two or three best recruiting classes in the country in 2025, but his 2024 haul wasn't so bad either. The Bayou Bengals have the 7th-ranked recruiting class in country in 2024 according to 247 Sports, and they return thirteen starters from a team that went 10-3 last year. Even though Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and 1,000-yard wide receivers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. are all off to the NFL, LSU still has more than enough talent to be in the thick of the College Football Playoff conversation once November rolls around.
As is the case for any team in the SEC, the path to a championship won't be easy. LSU's schedule is a minefield that includes home games against Ole Miss, Alabama and Oklahoma and visits to Texas A&M, Arkansas and Florida, with a tricky neutral site game against USC to open the season. But even with as many as two, or maybe even three losses, the Tigers could very well find themselves on the bubble coming come College Football's first Selection Sunday.
One interesting tidbit to take note of as the season nears: Brian Kelly has gone seven straight seasons winning at least ten games.
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