While the recruiting trail can give coaches new life and a ton of momentum, it can also give a coach grey hairs and a massive headache. No coach is a better example of that sentiment than LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly. Over the past year, Brian Kelly has reeled in one of the Nation's best transfer portal classes while also signing 5-star recruits DJ Pickett and Solomon Thomas.
The recruiting losses for Brian Kelly over the last calendar year are enough to drive any Head Coach truly insane. Kelly's bad luck started when the Nation's top WR Dakorien Moore decommitted from LSU after calling the program his dream school. The class truly flipped on Brian Kelly when 5-star quarterback Bryce Underwood flipped to Michigan as the Wolverines offered up one of the biggest NIL deals reported. The final straw came when Texas flipped 5-star cornerback Kade Phillips just days before National Signing Day.
While all of the 5-star losses added up at the end of the day, Brian Kelly still signed an impressive High School class and the loss of Bryce Underwood allowed the team to allocate funds in the transfer portal. The flips were one thing but, an emerging trend is far more unacceptable for Brian Kelly and his staff.
LSU is trending toward missing out on Louisiana's best in the trenches again
When you think of some of the best teams LSU has put together over the years, they've always been dominant in the trenches. Whether it has been Will Campbell, Andrew Whitworth, or Alan Faneca on the offensive line or Glenn Dorsey, Marcus Spears, or Booger McFarland on the defensive line, lining up against the Tigers in the trenches has been a war.
Given that LSU is the lone Power 4 program in it's State, the Tigers have a rare recruiting advantage that has allowed them to land the best talent year over year. As of late, LSU's stranglehold on Louisiana's best players in the trenches has started to slip as opposing programs have come in and stolen away what could've been superstar players for the Tigers.
In the 2025 recruiting class, one of the biggest players to watch for the Tigers was defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart. The 5-star recruit fittingly nicknamed "Thanos" reclassified and became one of the top targets for several programs around the Country. The New Orleans Native ended up picking the USC Trojans, taking a potential monster in the trenches away from the Tigers.
Heading into the 2026 recruiting cycle, all eyes in Louisiana were on 5-star lineman Lamar Brown who could be a potential instant starter on either side of the football. The Baton Rouge Native appeared headed to LSU for most of the recruiting cycle but, Texas A&M has never taken their foot off of the gas. Following an official visit to Texas A&M, Lamar Brown has canceled his official visit to LSU which spells trouble for the Tigers.
NEWS: Five-Star ATH Lamar Brown will no longer visit LSU this weekend, he tells me for @on3recruits
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) June 16, 2025
Brown is ranked as the No. 7 Recruit in the 2026 Class (No. 1 ATH) per On3
He’s set to announce his Commitment July 10thhttps://t.co/kX552HmLwt pic.twitter.com/wLS9jYCqR6
As the Tigers will not get an official visit from Lamar Brown, it appears that LSU will watch the top defensive lineman in its backyard leave for another program in back-to-back recruiting cycles. While the Tigers are doing just fine in this recruiting class with 5-star DL Richard Anderson on board, the trend that is developing is not good for LSU.
Brian Kelly and his staff have been plagued by issues on defense which have cost the team as they've fielded some of the Nation's best offenses. If Brian Kelly's tenure at LSU is going to become succesful, his staff is going to need to do a better job at keeping elite talent at home otherwise, it'll only become tougher to win these massive recruiting battles.