Brian Kelly admits that the move by the LSU coaching staff to put Harold Perkins inside “probably slowed him down a little bit,” and after he moved back outside against Grambling, the rising star was more effective.

Perkins was expected to pick up this season where he left off last year as arguably the best freshman defender in the SEC in 2022. But he struggled against Florida State, and many wondered what happened.

“We wanted to free him up a little bit, he’s got a lot of responsibilities playing inside and we just needed to let him go and let him play fast,” Kelly said. “We felt like with all of the things we asked him to do, we’ve probably slowed him down a little bit, and one of the things we have to do as coaches is know where your players are relative to playing fast. And I think we saw in the very first play, with the physicality he showed when the ball got out on the perimeter, that’s not something you want to do is throw the ball out on the perimeter.”

Kelly believes LSU made the right decision, and now it will refine how Perkins is deployed, and can move him inside and outside.

“We can do some things that can keep him in a position to impact the game, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Kelly said.