re: Is this best it gets for LSU for a while?

I said in 2022 that beating Alabama was poison for Kelly. It hyper-charged expectations because they won a game they really shouldn't have won. Really shouldn't have been in the game late at all but credit to his team for out-hustling a superior roster. Even the Georgia loss didn't temper expectations because the offense threw it around a bit (the classic alumni yards trap).

The big problem for Kelly is the recruiting disaster he inherited from Coach O. Finished 6th last year, currently 10th this year in recruiting. That's not bad if you're in any other conference but the SEC. Alabama, Georgia, Texas, and Oklahoma finished above LSU in the 2023 class. Perhaps they get a higher hit rate or some of the others missed more than normal...it happens...but he's in a predicament. The roster was behind Alabama and Georgia when he got there and he's going to need to out hit several great recruiting staffs to make up the deficit unless he starts just purely signing higher quality from the outset (finishing at the top for a few seasons).

He's a good coach though. Only 2 sub-.500 seasons in a head coaching career spanning 5 decades. I think we're going to discover over the Freeman tenure at ND that what Kelly did at Notre Dame in the modern era was spectacular coaching. Freeman is 7-3 with the first genuinely good QB at ND since the mid-aughts. Kelly would probably have that team 10-0 right now.