BATON ROUGE, La. – A $95 million investment in Brian kelly’s vision for LSU football imploded sunday with his firing, a stunning turn after less than three seasons marked by unmet expectations and a program descending into dysfunction.The move, orchestrated amidst unprecedented interference from Louisiana’s governor and a revolving door of athletic leadership, signals a desperate attempt to salvage a once-proud program now grappling with instability on and off the field.
Kelly was hired in december 2021 to a ten-year, $95 million contract, tasked with restoring LSU to national prominence following the departure of Ed Orgeron and the program’s recent championship success. Initial optimism, fueled by a 10-3 record in his first season, quickly faded.
The 2023 season proved to be a critical unraveling. Despite a preseason ranking,offensive struggles plagued the team. Kelly publicly rebuked a reporter for questioning the offense after a 20-10 victory over Florida in September, later apologizing, but the issues persisted.”We kicked our O-line’s ass too much in the spring, and that scared me,” a current LSU staffer told The Athletic.
The Tigers’ struggles were underscored by losses to Vanderbilt – the first since 1990 – and Texas A&M. A staffer noted a shift in the landscape of college football, stating, “It’s not the old days…where you could just load up on talent and have depth…It’s like the NFL now. You’ve gotta hit on your evaluations…Coaching matters. Scheme matters.” The staffer further emphasized the importance of player buy-in, adding, “those guys that are really getting paid money, they have to want to play for you. Or else it’ll be transactional to them.”
Kelly’s bold prediction following a win over Oklahoma – that LSU “would see you in the national championship” – now appears strikingly misplaced. The program’s instability deepened with an interim president,an interim athletic director,and Governor Jeff Landry‘s overt involvement in the program’s direction.
“He just lacks the authenticity,” the first LSU staffer said. “and I don’t want to dance on his grave…but you could almost tell that he cashed out here.”
The firing comes as LSU embarks on a coaching search complicated by the ongoing turmoil at the administrative level. Governor Landry has already signaled a desire for a significantly different contract structure for the next head coach,stating on “The Pat mcafee Show” that “Everyone is in agreement in Louisiana,the next coach we hire is going to have a patently different contract.” LSU is now thrust back into the coaching market, facing a challenging path to stability and a return to championship contention.
