As LSU football coach Brian Kelly prepares for his third season running Louisiana’s flagship college football team, he sat down Thursday for a one-on-one interview with The Advocate talking NIL, recruiting and scheduling, both for the Southeastern Conference and a potential first-ever LSU game in Ireland:

Tell us about your new defensive tackle commitment, Jay’viar Suggs from Grand Valley State?

“We’re excited about him. He’s athletic. He’s got all of the things that we were looking for at that position. He’s going to be able to eat up reps for us. He’s a mature kid, 23, going to be 24-years old, who is physically developed. That’s what we were looking for. He and Gio Paez (transfer from Wisconsin) now give us a little bit more depth. We’re going have to play a lot of guys at that position and give them all the opportunity. But they don’t have to play 30 or 40 plays. That’s the great part about it.

“We have three guys drafted at the defensive tackle position (Maason Smith, Jordan Jefferson and Mekhi Wingo) and they’re good players. We didn’t play great defense with three drafted defensive tackles. This perception that you have to be an NFL player to play great defense is an illusion. What you need is fundamentally, really sound and committed players to what you’re doing. (New defensive line coach) Bo Davis will get us that. So we just needed to give him more guys. That was the plan and I think we’ve accomplished it.”

Your son Kenzel played with Suggs at Grand Valley State, where you got your start as a head coach. Did you get his input?

“Yes. The good part about it is we were able to really vet character and fit in the locker room and work ethic and desire to want to be part of the solution here. Certainly that played a big role in it. Garrett Dellinger also knew him (they played together in high school) and knew the kind of kid he was, his background. Having that kind of insight and information on a player that’s going to fit into our culture is a big get for us.”

How do you feel about where your defensive tackle room is now?

“The room is set in terms of the numbers. Now it’s just developing those guys throughout the summer.”

Suggs gives you 83 scholarship players. Any other players in the portal you might pursue?

“Yes, we’re looking at a couple of other options right now, but at other positions.”

The SEC stayed with an eight-game schedule for 2024 despite the addition of Texas and Oklahoma and just flipped the schedule for 2025. Do you still think a nine-game schedule will happen? The SEC kicked the can pretty far down the road.

“Quite frankly, I think the can is being kicked in the direction of ABC/ESPN. When there is an agreement on nine games contractually, we (the SEC) need to be compensated for that.

“The area in which everybody is most concerned right now is how are we going to support NIL. When this case eventually closes here pretty soon, revenue is going to be at the heart of this. With one more game we can produce more revenue to offset those costs. This is not even a discussion because what, coaches are afraid of one more loss? ADs may have to make a decision on whether to cut sports. If there is a financial reward of playing nine games that can offset what is going to be, obviously, millions of dollars that are going to have to be funneled somewhere else out of your athletic department budget, I know what side’s going to win there.”