Brian Kelly knows expectations were high entering college football’s 2025 season at LSU, a program that exhausted its resources to strengthen an elite roster with a bevy of transfer portal additions.
However, after a lackluster 5-3 start and a fall out of the national rankings, the Tigers fired their fourth-year coach. For the first time, Kelly is not mincing words on what ultimately led to his premature exit and expansive $54 million buyout.
“I would say there’s an easy, simple answer,” Kelly told USA Today this week. “And I didn’t win enough games. There’s a longer answer to why that didn’t happen — I’ll probably have to write a book about that. There’s always cause and effect, and the effect was I didn’t win enough games, period.
“I guess you do have to start with what is winning enough games? We were 34-14, 22-3 at home when I was fired. We had two 10-win seasons, won an SEC (West Division) championship, had the No. 1 offense in college football, a Heisman Trophy winner. When you look at what is winning and what keeps you employed, other people make those decisions. But it starts with what is defined as winning, and unfortunately, it wasn’t defined as enough winning leading into being fired.”
Pressure mounted on Kelly early when it became clear something was broken with LSU’s offense. While Kelly’s desire to win big at LSU was indisputable, guiding the Tigers to their first playoff appearance since 2019 appeared increasingly difficult unless a regime change was made.
LSU’s defense was never elite during Kelly’s tenure, even after a change was made prior to the 2024 campaign with the arrival of Missouri’s Blake Baker as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator. Mike Denbrock was LSU’s offensive coordinator during the 2022 and 2023 seasons under Kelly before departing for Notre Dame, and Joe Sloan was promoted as his replacement.
Even with Garrett Nussmeier as the starting quarterback the last two seasons, the Tigers never generated the same level of offensive firepower that Denbrock produced with Jayden Daniels as the facilitator.
What’s next for Brian Kelly?
While Kelly has come to terms with his shortfalls at LSU, he’s also looking forward toward the future. He told USA Today he continues watching film every day in preparation to continue his coaching career and has already been offered consulting roles at various programs ahead of the 2026 season.
“I think you look at everything you’ve done throughout your career and you’ve got a great process, and you know that process has been successful,” Kelly stated. “I’ve had two losing seasons in 35 years, so you know your process is good. This past transition for me gave me some time to think about the things I would have done differently or better. We were in a real new change in college football, where building a front office was crucial, making sure that your hires were the right hires.
“I think most of the hindsight for me would be based not on the culture or process of building a championship program, but probably the hiring process and making sure that you have the pieces in place to handle where college football is today. Building out a really good front office immediately. I think we may have been in a great place at the end, but we didn’t get there soon enough, maybe. I think continuity with your coordinators is very important.”
