LSU’s blowout loss to Texas A&M was the final straw for Brian Kelly in Baton Rouge.
Kelly has been fired as LSU’s head coach, according to a report from Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger, which was quickly confirmed by ESPN. Frank Wilson, LSU’s associate head coach and running backs coach, will serve as the interim head coach, according to The Athletic.
Kelly was in the middle of his fourth season with the program, posting a 34-14 record during his tenure.
While Kelly’s record as LSU’s head coach was 20 games over .500, the Tigers struggled to compete at college football’s highest level with him at the helm. LSU didn’t reach the College Football Playoff in each of Kelly’s first three seasons, and Saturday’s loss likely knocked the Tigers out of playoff contention as they fell to 5-3 on the year.
Saturday’s loss marked LSU’s third straight loss to a ranked opponent. It fell to 13th-ranked Ole Miss (24-19), 17th-ranked Vanderbilt (31-24) and third-ranked Texas A&M (49-25) in each of its last three games. Those losses dropped Kelly’s record against opponents to 4-11 during his time at LSU. Before Kelly’s last loss ended, LSU fans were chanting, “Fire Kelly!”
Those fans’ wishes have been granted, but it’ll cost the program a pretty penny to move on from Kelly. LSU will owe Kelly $53,293,333, according to USA Today’s database. That makes the firing of Kelly the second-costliest buyout in college football history, surpassing the near-$50 million mark for Penn State after it fired James Franklin earlier in October. Texas A&M’s firing of Jimbo Fisher in 2023 remains the most costly firing ($77 million).
The pay for Kelly’s buyout would be made in monthly payments and offset by his next job in football, unless he and LSU negotiated a different payment structure upon his firing, The Athletic reported.
LSU poached Kelly from Notre Dame in a seemingly unprecedented move in the college football coaching landscape in November 2021. At the time, Kelly said he felt he had a better chance to compete at the highest level and win a national championship at LSU than Notre Dame, where he went 113-40 over 12 seasons as head coach (including vacated wins). Kelly also helped the Fighting Irish play in the national championship game in 2012 and reached the College Football Playoff twice (0-2).
As Kelly has floundered in big games at LSU, Marcus Freeman has flourished at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish reached the national championship game last season in a surprise playoff run and appear poised to make the College Football Playoff again in 2025, adding to the angst among LSU fans.
Now, LSU will look for a coach who will have similar success to Freeman in big games. It’ll also likely be one of the top head coach openings, if not the top opening, in this season’s coaching carousel due to the program’s history and resources. Prior to Kelly, each of LSU’s last three head coaches had led the Tigers to a national title.
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