LSU's Brian Kelly: 'We're Not Going to Go Out and Buy Players' in CFB Transfer Portal

Brian Kelly made LSU's approach to the transfer portal abundantly clear on Tuesday.

The Tigers' head coach told WAFB-TV Sports that LSU wouldn't be buying players while asked for an update on the team's search for more defensive lineman:

"We were in the market, in the transfer portal, looking for defensive lineman. It hasn't fared very well, quite frankly, because we are selling something a little bit differently. And that is, we want to recruit. We want to engage, build relationships. We want to develop, retain, and have success. We're not in the market of buying players. And unfortunately, right now, that's what some guys are looking for. They want to be bought. ... We're not going to go out and buy players."

College football recruiting has changed in the age of the transfer portal and NIL deals that allow college athletes to profit and earn sponsorships. While it has given players the opportunity to cash in on a multibillion-dollar business, it has also forced coaches to change their approach to enticing players to join, and stay with, their program.

And the notion that LSU itself isn't buying players is... debatable, at best:

The other irony in Kelly's comments is that he is one of many prominent football coaches whose services were bought for millions of dollars. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.