Brian Kelly vows to “do better” after apologizing for explosive reporter rant following LSU’s win over Florida

LSU coach Brian Kelly owned up to his salty conduct in Saturday’s postgame press conference after the Tigers’ 20-10 win over Florida.

Kelly held a press conference on Monday to issue a public apology for his outburst at WBKZ reporter Michael Cauble. He took responsibility for the act committed and pledged to do better in the future.

“I want to go back to the press conference after the game,” the LSU coach said (Timestamp: 0:03). “I’ve texted with Mike and and offered my apology to him for the way I handled the questioning. And we’ll do better moving forward.”

Kelly admitted that he was overwhelmed by emotions and was ready to defend his players going into the press conference. He even praised the reporter for his hard work in covering the LSU football games for his station.

It may be recalled that Kelly cut off Cauble in his question about the team’s offense and third-down efficiency against Florida.

“Stop, really? Is that the first question?” Kelly asked. “We won the game 20-10. Try another question. What do you want me to tell you? I just laid it out for you. We played the game to win the game. We played the game to win the game.”

Kelly’s tirade went viral and some college football fans trolled the veteran coach on social media, as they didn’t like his postgame outburst.

Former Florida player Jack Pyburn gives Brian Kelly’s LSU defense strength on the edge

LSU defensive end Jack Pyburn showed his former team, Florida, what he can do in pass rushing if they convince him to play this season.

Pyburn provided a strong run defense on the edge, finishing with five tackles and half a tackle for loss. The edge rusher also recorded four pressures and a stop and helped out in making DJ Lagway’s life miserable downfield.

“To be a successful defense, I feel like in this day and age, you have to be aggressive,” Pyburn said. “You can’t be scared, and we have the ball players to be aggressive.”

The 6-foot-4 senior out of Jacksonville, Florida, had a breakout 2024 season with the Gators, recording 60 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and one interception. He transferred to LSU after the 2024-25 season and is one of the leaders of the Tigers’ pass rush this year.

In three games, he has 11 tackles and half a sack for Brian Kelly’s team. He is one of the reasons why LSU is among the top programs in the nation in terms of team defense.

“We’ve got the guys in the secondary who are going to make those plays, that are going to play man coverage, that are going to press and make those key plays,” Pyburn said. “We’ve got guys on the line that are going to make the plays up front. We’re going to stuff the run, and that’s what we’re built off of.”

LSU will try to make it four in a row against Southeast Louisiana on Saturday at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Kickoff is at 7:45 p.m. ET