SEC Media Days: BK and BJ speak for LSU

Written By anthony bailey

It’s that time of the year for jokes, assumptions and “southern accents.” The SEC Media Days started this Monday in Atlanta, Georgia with LSU, Ole Miss and Missouri all speaking to members of the press and to anyone passionate about SEC football.

Tiger’s head coach Brian Kelly was present at a media day for the first time in more than a decade. The players that joined Kelly the trip were defensive end BJ Ojulari, linebacker Mike Jones Jr., and wide receiver Jack Bech.

Kelly seemed very comfortable at the helm for the Tigers as he addressed the media. Kelly touched on multiple topics with the media, with one of the bigger talking points being about him building up both his roster and staff as he beings his first season in 2022.

Kelly also responded to criticism he’s been facing about old-fashioned recruiting and the disparity between LSU and other schools with NIL by making it very clear he felt LSU was not as far behind as they are made out to look.

"What we are doing relative to NIL is as competitive as anybody else. I don't feel like we are being outbid by anybody,” Kelly said. “I don't think that's the place of NIL anyways. I don't feel hamstrung by that."

This is an interesting comment by Kelly, as he seems to agree with Alabama head coach Nick Saban that NIL should not be used to pay for players.

However, the elephant in the room seems to be who will be standing behind center September 4 for the Tigers when they start their season in New Orleans against Florida State. Kelly did not directly say who will be the starting quarterback, but made some pretty strong hints that Garrett Nussmeier would take the opening snap.

Jordy Culotta, who was present at the media days, said that it seemed Brian Kelly was leaning toward Nussmeier for opening day.

“When (Kelly) talks about Nussmeier,” Culotta said, recounting Kelly’s apporach to the media, “he says ‘My guy, Garrett Nussmeier’…If you go back and listen to his words, (Kelly) is not trying to hide the fact that, even within the house, there’s a little favoritism shown to number 13.”

Nussmeier is part of a deep quarterback room with many options, with the likes of Miles Brennan, Walker Howard, and Jayden Daniels. Kelly has yet to release who will be the starter against the Seminoles, but emphasized in an interview on Monday that it is simply because every player is being given a chance.

On the player side of the media days, defensive end B.J. Ojulari spoke glowingly about his chances to return to his home state of Georgia representing the Tigers. The junior is expected to take a leadership role this year and was proud to speak for the Tigers.

Ojulari spoke not only about his excitement for the future, but also on how he can learn a lot from the past two years from the Tigers, which has seen them struggle.

“There’s a lot to take away from the past two years. Coach (Ogeron) did an amazing job coaching us, we had a great staff both years in my opinion,” Ojulari said. “But as a high level player, we just got to take away what we did wrong last season an implement it into this season.”

Ojulari also spoke about how Brian Kelly has looked to improve the Tigers not only on the field but in the classroom, as part of his goal to “graduate champions.” The junior made it clear the team had bought into that mindset and actually improved their overall GPA for the Spring semester.

To catch more SEC Media Day Coverage, check back here at the Effemm blog and check out the Jordy Culotta Show every weekday, which will be covering everyday of SEC Media Days.

Anthony Bailey

anthony bailey
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