My only criticism of Kelly is not really a criticism. Rather it's an observation.

He's a very good coach but he's not elite. He's proven that repeatedly over a long career.

In essence, he's Mark Richt. Both win a ton of games. Neither were elite.

As far as the portal is concerned, the reality is all players entering the portal are looking for one of 3 things.

1 - Playing time. This is mostly guys who are moving down or to an equivalent level of program who haven't been able to win a starting job at their current program. There aren't a ton of programs where a player can "move down" to LSU for playing time, so Kelly isn't going to find guys in this category.

2 - Chance to win a national title. This is mostly guys who have success at a lower school and want to get into a program in the national title hunt. LSU is a good program, but they aren't OSU/UGA/Alabama who have been regularly in the national title mix the past 2-3 years. They do have a chance at these guys, but they're behind a few others in the pecking order.

3 - Paycheck. Most of these guys are "trading up" with schools as well, but they're less focused on the team they are going to winning a title and more focused on how they can personally benefit by going to that team. That category is the one LSU could have the most success recruiting... but it sounds like Kelly doesn't want the players in that group.

That leaves them with the tiny number of players who are in group 2 who think LSU is a true NC contender and choose not to go to a school that's more in contention.

UGA doesn't get into bidding wars for transfers, but they do offer NIL deals to proven players coming in. They also offer the chance to play for a team likely to be in NC contention and a history of putting a large number of players into the NFL recently. They don't win players who JUST want a paycheck, but some paycheck is coming with the rest of the stuff UGA has to offer to make a solid overall package for incoming guys.

The reality is the less you have to offer outside of money, the more money that needs to be in your offer to win. It's the reality of college football today.