The rough start for Brian Kelly as coach of the LSU Tigers football program continued today after getting zinged by a reporter who arrived late to his press conference.
Kelly’s start at LSU has not been ideal. He set a weird tone with his introductory press conference when he used an odd southern accent at times. Then, with a lot of pressure on him to get off to a fast start in Louisiana after a stellar run leading Notre Dame, Kelly’s team had a disappointing Week 1 showing in a 24-23 loss at home to Florida State.
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While the 60-year-old was a god in South Bend for bringing Notre Dame back to prominence, he has received a different reception at LSU. That was evident again on Tuesday during his weekly press conference when he tried to make an example of a tardy reporter and received a stiff verbal retort.
LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly gets zinged by reporter at press conference
In an attempt to send a message, but also have a little fun, Kelly put a spotlight on The Advocate’s LSU beat writer Leah Vann when she arrived late to Kelly’s press conference. “We’ll open it up to this late arriving media crowd that must have enjoyed the weekend. That’s usually $10 that we put in the kitty [jar]. We’ll have a big bash at the end of the year at my place,” Kelly said to the reporters.
However, Vann clearly was in a frisky mood and she responded with a fastball up and in, to the head football coach. “Maybe if you win I’d be on time.”
While certainly funny, the response was probably a bit much since the moment occurred on live cameras. Following her exchange with Kelly, Vann took to her Twitter account to reveal she did, in fact, apologize to the coach after the event and was reminded by Kelly that she still owes him some money.
“Press conference was at noon, I was running from a doctor’s appointment. Got there at 11:57. Brian Kelly called me out, said jokingly I owed him $10, and I said if he won maybe I’d be on time. Not my finest hour. I apologized afterward, he was super chill and said I still owe him $10.”
LSU will be back in action on Saturday with a 7:30 PM ET matchup against the Southern Jaguars on the SEC ESPN Network.