Brian Kelly's had a tough opening start to his first 72 hours at LSU.
Kelly's unwittingly hired his successor at Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman, and seen his former quarterback-turned-offensive-coordinator, Tommy Rees, make the same decision as Freeman to remain at Notre Dame. Irish defensive line coach Mike Elston likewise has indicated his return to the Notre Dame program – after being in advanced discussions to join Kelly's inaugural Tigers' squad.
But Kelly has made a couple of support staff hires.
Multiple sources confirmed to FootballScoop that Kelly has added his son, Patrick, into an unspecified support staff role within the LSU football program. The younger Kelly also changed a social media account to reflect he had transitioned to “assistant @LSUFootball.”
Most recently, Patrick Kelly had served as a student-assistant coach at Grand Valley State.
Kelly also has moved to bring his former Notre Dame director of football administration, Beth Rex, with him to the Tigers' program. Rex, per sources, is expected to serve in a senior role within Kelly's LSU administrative team.
These moves come as Kelly on Thursday saw Nebraska and coach Scott Frost hire away Mickey Joseph, most recently the Tigers' wide receivers coach and assistant head coach, into a prominent role on Frost's overhauled Cornhuskers' staff.
LSU still has members of its previous staff on the recruiting trail, but timing is a key factor as the NCAA's early signing period opens Dec. 15.