GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU football coach Brian Kelly was 20 minutes late for his weekly coaches’ show at TJ Ribs Thursday night.
And he had a very good excuse. He was dealing with losing his starting safety A.J. Haulcy for the season opener Saturday night at No. 4 Clemson. And it was not a good day overall as Kelly also lost five-star wide receiver commitment Tristen Keys of Hattiesburg High in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to a commitment to Tennessee.
Keys, who is No. 1 at his position in the nation and the No. 4 overall prospect by 247sports.com, had committed to LSU on March 19.
“Obviously, we’re dealing with A.J. Haulcy’s situation,” Kelly said as he got settled. “The NCAA has upheld his suspension for the first half. I was on the phone with Steve Shaw (the national coordinator of officials quoted by Tiger Rag on Thursday) and Greg Sankey (SEC commissioner).”
Kelly also spoke to Haulcy so he wouldn’t hear the news on the radio show, but Haulcy should have known this was coming as LSU should have known.
LSU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN MONTHS AGO THAT A.J. HAULCY WOULD MISS 1ST HALF AT CLEMSON
Haulcy was ejected for fighting in his last game as a Houston Cougar on Nov. 30, 2024, in a 30-18 loss at Brigham Young University in a Big 12 regular season finale that featured a well-publicized fight. Video clearly showed him fighting, which was why he was ejected. And ejections for fighting in the second half of a game, by NCAA rule, is an automatic suspension for the first half of a player’s next game. And it doesn’t matter if that next game is in a future season at a different school.
It also doesn’t matter if the player’s new school doesn’t realize it has a new player with a pending suspension.
Houston finished 4-8 last season with no bowl game, so Haulcy’s next game is at Clemson on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC). He transferred to LSU last spring for his senior season as the No. 3 safety in the portal and had earned a starting job opposite sophomore safety transfer Tamarcus Cooley of North Carolina State.
Sophomore Dashawn Spears, the No. 2 safety in America in the 2024 signing class from Denham Springs, will likely start in Haulcy’s place.
“It’s unfortunate,” Kelly said of Haulcy’s suspension. “Look, we can’t sit here and complain, because the decision’s been made, right? So, let’s move on.”
The decision was actually made a few days after that Nov. 30 game when the NCAA and the Big 12 Conference categorized Haulcy’s ejection as being for fighting, though game officials ruled it as unsportsmanlike conduct after the fight. Video replays clearly show Haulcy swinging fists and landing punches. BYU wide receiver Darius Lassiter was also ejected for fighting and served his first-half suspension in BYU’s 36-14 win over Colorado in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28.
So, LSU didn’t have much of a chance of Haulcy playing in the first half after Lassiter had to serve his suspension.
Still, Kelly remained in good spirits.
“We’ve got really good football players, and the safety position is in great hands,” Kelly said as his radio show went on. “And we’ll get him ready for the second half to make plays all over the field as much as we wanted.”
Kelly did sign the No. 1 transfer portal class in the country with several of those expected to start Saturday.
“We’re ready to play the game,” he said. “And I don’t want it to be a distraction. And it should not be the headline about this game. This will be a great game. It’s going to be exciting. Our guys are excited.”
BRIAN KELLY NAMES STARTING OFFENSIVE LINE
Kelly was asked who his starting offensive line would be. And he was asked if saying he will play as many as seven or eight offensive linemen means he “hasn’t identified a best five.”
“Tyree Adams at left tackle,” Kelly said. “Weston Davis at right tackle. Braelin Moore will play center. We’ll have probably a rotation at the left guard position with Paul Mubenga. He’ll play. Coen Echols is going to play. D.J. Chester, who played center for us (last year). But Josh Thompson will nail down the right guard position. I hope we don’t have to play other guys. Carius Curne is getting ready. He’s true freshman. He would be another option for us (at guard and tackle).”
Then Kelly said he could play more than eight offensive linemen.
“We could go nine deep of what we feel are guys who could play for us,” he said. “Some play at a higher level than others right now because there’s some inexperience there. But I think it’s driven by our center and our left tackle. Those two guys have been outstanding, and Josh has done a really good job of solidifying the right guard. I think we have three (Adams, Moore and Thompson) as good as we’re going to see in the SEC, and the other two guys (Mubenga and Davis) have to really keep coming on. We have high hopes for Weston Davis, but he is a freshman.”
BRIAN KELLY MAKES ANOTHER PREDICTION
Kelly kept his opening game week tradition of predicting the outcome of his team’s first game on his coaches’ radio show before the game. Never mind that he picked wrong before the Florida State game in 2023 and the USC game last year.
“It’s going to be a great road win,” he said.
Kelly is 0-3 in season openers as LSU’s coach.
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