LSU's special teams continue to be riddle for Brian Kelly

The unit's latest setback came this past Saturday against No. 6 Tennessee when wide receiver Jack Bech attempted to return the opening kickoff but fumbled the ball and gave Tennessee possession at the 27-yard line. The play set the tone for Tennessee's 40-13 blowout victory over LSU.

During the 2022 season, the unit has been nothing short of disastrous, negatively impacting the team multiple times. 

LSU has 20 returns on kickoffs and punts this season, averaging just 11.85 yards per return, per College Football Stats. Opponents have 26 returns and average 19.04 yards per return. Against Tennessee, LSU's special teams allowed 115 yards on just four returns, an average of 28.75 yards per return. Per Pro Football Focus, LSU's special teams rank as the eighth worst in college football.

The fact that miscues keep piling up is not lost on Kelly, who has constantly had to answer questions about the unit's struggles in 2022.

"We need to be better all over the place," Kelly said following the team's 31-16 win over Mississippi State. Prior to that, after the team's 24-23 loss to Florida State, Kelly lamented the unit by saying, "we didn't execute the way we needed." That game ended infamously when Florida State blocked LSU's game-tying extra-point attempt on the final play.

Brian Polian is the special teams' coordinator and has come under fire as the person ultimately responsible for putting the players in a position to succeed. Miscommunication within the unit played a role in the awful start to Saturday's game.

Polian is the son of former NFL front office executive Bill Polian and was formerly the head coach of the Nevada Wolf Pack from 2013-16, where he went 23-27 in four seasons. He followed Kelly to LSU when he was hired in November 2021.

He was Notre Dame's special teams coordinator for the past six seasons, and as recently as 2019 was receiving praise from those within the program.

Per the Indianapolis Star, Polian was instrumental in turning around a special teams unit that was a weakness for Kelly's Notre Dame teams during the beginning of his tenure.

"Whereas once those [breakdowns] were a fairly common occurrence for...Kelly's program, the holes have mostly closed under...Polian," wrote Mike Berradino in 2019.

However, in the spring of 2021 while still with Notre Dame, the coordinator had to defend the unit against the derisive moniker of "Fair Catch U."

The good news for Kelly is he has plenty of time to fix a unit that through six games is helping keep the team from reaching its full potential. He's in the first year of a 10-year, $95 million contract.

As issues continue to mount for LSU's special teams, tough discussions will need to be had about the direction in which the unit is heading. If the struggles are a part of the unit's code, Kelly might have to reboot the whole operation.