Brian Kelly been walking through this portal cycle like he got cheat codes, pickin’ up SEC speed demons, Power Five pass rushers, and some freakish DBs like it’s a Black Friday clearance event. LSU’s been eating off that portal heavy, reloading like the Terminator, and now Kelly got his eyes locked on one last golden bullet. But just when LSU thought they could ride off into the sunset with their shiny new prospect? Boom. Here come the ACC giants tryin’ to crash the party.
Let’s get it straight—Brian Kelly’s portal run been nothing short of wild. The man’s basically turned Baton Rouge into college football’s version of Best Buy during a PS5 drop. According to 247Sports, LSU got the No. 1 ranked transfer class. Seventeen winter pickups. Seventeen. That’s an NFL-level free agency move. Kelly loaded up on every position like he’s building a custom Madden roster. Offensively, he swiped Oklahoma WR Nic Anderson and track-star Barion Brown from Kentucky. Defensively? He plucked edge rusher Jack Pyburn from Florida, then snatched Patrick Payton II outta Tallahassee like it was nothing. And now, Brian Kelly tryna add the final brick to this castle with AJ Haulcy. Plot twist? Mario Cristobal’s Miami might got the juice to steal him.
Houston transfer safety A.J. Haulcy is visiting Miami on Monday, according to @mzenitz.
One of the top available players in the secondary and a premier target for the Hurricanes this spring.https://t.co/BfeF36FY5F pic.twitter.com/BQO5AktXam
— Gaby Urrutia (@GabyUrrutia247) April 27, 2025
AJ ain’t no regular safety. This man been flying around the field like a drone with missiles. At Houston last year, he put up 74 tackles and tied for the Big 12 lead with five interceptions. Pro Football Focus stamped him with an 85.8 coverage grade—fourth-best among all safeties in the conference. Translation: he’s a dawg. Straight up. 172 total tackles over two seasons, 15 passes defended, five picks. Bro been consistent. And that’s exactly why Brian Kelly wants him. It’s the last piece of that secondary jigsaw puzzle, and Kelly thinking this move might just seal the deal for LSU’s title push.
But here come the Hurricanes tryna mess up the vibe. Miami brought Haulcy down to campus on Monday, and they ain’t just rolling out the red carpet—they got connections. Zack Ethridge, Haulcy’s former DB coach at Houston, now coaches corners for Miami. That’s like tryna win a girl over when her ex still got the Netflix password. Ole Miss tried their luck too, but after they grabbed a different safety last weekend, it’s lookin’ like a two-team race now: LSU vs. Miami.
On April 29th, Shea Dixon from 247Sports dropped the tea on Matt Moscona’s podcast and said it clear: “The only guy they are actively recruiting in the portal is a safety, AJ Haulcy…So is he [AJ Haulcy] a guy that makes that room better? Absolutely. I think they also like the safety room a good bit, and you want to develop the guys like Dashawn Spears and others…So you’ve got a little bit of veteran experience there alongside Gilbert. I mean, you’re getting better there. But you add a guy like Haulcy—yeah, that boosts the room.” Hope ya’ll understood the stake here.
Then Shea Dixon threw a wrench at Brian Kelly’s plan: “I’ll say Miami has had him on campus Monday. Zack Ethridge, who was his coach at Houston as a DB coach last year, he’s now the corner coach at Miami. So they’ve got a bit of a connection there. Ole Miss is still on him. But from talking to people in the past 24 hours, it seemed like this one was shifting away from LSU, and now LSU feels like, “Oh wait—we’ve continued to talk with the Haulcy camp and we might have a shot here.’” Ain’t gonna lie here. Former position coach/player relationship can bend any quantum.
Shea Dixon’s final verdict:” So I think this one’s going to come down to LSU, Miami….I’m not sure, after Ole Miss picking up a safety transfer this past weekend, if they’re going to be the choice or if it won’t be the Hurricanes or Tigers. I’d keep an eye on it. I—they might not be done.”
Now, Brain Kelly ain’t dumb. He knows this ain’t January. He already told the media during spring camp, “I like our roster right now… Maybe that’s fool’s gold. Maybe that’s wishing more than it is anything else. But I like what we’ve done.” Man said he’d be cool takin’ this roster straight into May. But even he knows there’s one final move that can flip the whole table—Haulcy.
AJ Haulcy: The final key in Brian Kelly’s massive portal game
So why’s everyone so thirsty over Haulcy? Simple. LSU’s secondary still got some duct tape on it. They’ve brought in Mansoor Delane from VT and Tamarcus Cooley from NC State, which definitely beefed it up. But Haulcy? He got that real heat. He’s not just plug-and-play—he’s plug-and-domin8.
This man would be LSU’s most proven DB day one. He’d line up next to Cooley, push Gilbert to another level, and suddenly that DB room ain’t lookin’ shaky no more—it’s lookin’ elite. The Tigers lost some firepower in the back end this offseason, but Haulcy brings back that 200o’s LSU swagger. He’s physical, smart, reads routes like a psychic, and he’s not afraid to lay the wood.
And let’s be real—Brain Kelly might be half-smiling in the interviews, but he low-key feels that Miami heat. Ethridge knows how to talk to Haulcy. That’s his guy. Add in Mario Cristobal’s relentless portal hustle, and this might get messy. Still, LSU ain’t outta it. Dixon said they’ve been back in touch with Haulcy’s camp, and the vibes sounding more optimistic. It’s gonna come down to who closes harder.
LSU already did major portal damage. They built a squad. But Haulcy? That’s the final chess piece. You don’t let a player like that go without a fight. And knowing Kelly, he got something cooking behind the scenes.
At this point, it’s portal warfare. You got Cristobal calling old favors, Kelly moving in silence, and a top-tier safety in the middle of it all like a five-star tug of war. Whichever way this swings, just know: the portal ain’t done swinging back.
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