re: Kelly says things not going well on defensive line recruiting

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So, yes LSU is bidding by making ONE offer but they will not get in a bidding war (multiple rising offers) in order to get a player and kill the team chemistry. This may be self serving but it is also true and it will be up to every coach to figure out the line not to cross as it pertains to team chemistry.

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This is a problem for LSU though.

As I posted on this topic earlier, there are three things transfers are looking for.

1 - Playing time.
2 - Better chance at winning a title.
3 - Money.

That's it.

Most of those in category 1 are transferring DOWN in terms of schools. LSU doesn't have a whol bunch of schools above them, so there aren't a ton of guys they get from category 1. Major Burns leaving UGA to go to LSU would qualify, but other than UGA, Bama and OSU, there's not tons of schools to transfer down from.

Most of those in Category 2 are heading to UGA, Bama and OSU if they can at the moment. Some may not have offers from those places and might go to LSU, but the kind of players that are upgrades for LSU are likely also upgrades for the schools ahead of LSU. If UGA and LSU make similar bids and have similar playing time available for a player, UGA is going to get that player most of the time because they are more likely to win a title at the moment than LSU.

Category 3 is the vast majority of transfer portal players. If you're not able to sell playing time or a national title, this is all you have to work with. And not being willing to match higher offers means you're going to fail most of the time in the portal.

UGA is rarely the top bidder for players. We can probably sell the chance of winning a national title better than any other program in college football at the moment. Even so, we rarely get players other than at positions where we can sell playing time as well. In the last transfer period 8 of our 9 incoming players can be argued are at positions where UGA has a significant amount of snaps available. (the exception being Jalen Rashada at QB, but for him snaps would be available in 2025 rather than 2024).

LSU apparently is less willing to up the amount they pay compared to UGA and is less able to sell national title aspirations. That's going to cause problems for them with filling needs through the portal.

You have to have something else to entice a player if you're not willing to be competitive on the money side. It's hard to identify what that would be for LSU right now.

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1. One of the top 3, if not THE top NFL Draft prospect-producing schools in the SEC and the country....
2. One of the Top 12 programs in CFB history (wins, NCs, bowl appearances, Heismans, conference titles, All-Americans.)....
3. An unmatched fan and alumni base....
4. The best game-day atmosphere and stadium on the planet.....

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As I said, I don't think transfers care about any of that.

1 - playing time
2 - winning championships
3 - money

That's really it. If the other stuff mattered, it would have mattered with recruiting out of high school. No player is leaving their first choice out of high school and going somewhere else for "game day experience" or "great fans".