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'We're gonna be wherever we're told to be': Brian Kelly talks Gov. Landry's anthem-skipping statement
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BATON ROUGE - LSU head football coach Brian Kelly added his input Friday to the recent controversy surrounding the LSU women's basketball team not being on the court for the national anthem before the Elite Eight showdown against Iowa.
The governor on Tuesday sent a letter to the LSU Board of Supervisors and the state Board of Regents urging them to adopt rules mandating that the athletes be present for the Star Spangled Banner or risk losing their scholarships.
LSU athletic director Scott Woodward issued a statement Friday saying the university would evaluate their processes.
"As Louisiana's flagship university, LSU always strives to represent the higher ideals and values of our students, our state and our country," Woodward wrote.
After Spring practice on Saturday, Kelly said that his team would "be wherever we're told to be" if the administration wants the team out for the national anthem.
"If our administration wants us out there for the national anthem, we're going to stand proud for the national anthem," Kelly said.
Kelly went on to explain that athletes typically do not wait on the field as a product of how their pre-game routines are scripted.
"It's just the way that it's been scripted, and I've been doing this for 33 years, and on my hand, I could tell you how many times we've been out there for the national anthem," Kelly said. "That's not to say we're against what the governor's saying, we understand where the governor's coming from."
Kelly said he stood by Woodward's statement and recalled LSU's game against Army in the 2023 season, saying "we were proud of that moment to have Army in that stadium" and to show their patriotic backing.
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