LSU parts ways with Brian Kelly after just four seasons. A solid record couldn't overcome late-season struggles and a pattern of missed opportunities.
The tenure of Brian Kelly at LSU has come to a close as Pete Thamel from ESPN has reported that the Kelly tenure in Baton Rouge has come to a close. Kelly was fired eight games into his fourth season, which means he didn't even get half way through the 10-year contract he signed when he bailed on Notre Dame before the Fiesta Bowl following the 2021 season.
Kelly finished his career at LSU with a 34-14 record, including a 19-10 record in league play. Despite the overall solid record, Kelly was trending in the wrong direction. LSU went 10-4 and 10-3 in Kelly's first two seasons. The Tigers played in the 2022 SEC Championship and in 2023 LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy. LSU went just 9-4 in 2024 and last night's 49-25 loss to Texas A&M dropped them to 5-3. Over the last two seasons LSU went just 2-6 against ranked opponents.
Kelly finished his Notre Dame career as the school's all-time winningest coach, finishing with a 113-39 overall record. That was more of a longevity honor, as Kelly ranked just 8th in winning percentage among coaches who were at Notre Dame at least five seasons.
Kelly left Notre Dame following the end of the 2021 season, leaving the Irish before they played in the Fiesta Bowl. It was the second straight job where he left a team before a major bowl game, as he left Cincinnati before the Sugar Bowl following the 2009 season to take the Notre Dame job.
On his way out, Kelly took shots at Notre Dame in an attempt to blame his lack of winning big games - including a national championship - on the school, it's lack of resources and the players. Remember this comment ....
“It’s been awesome because you’ve got incredible facilities, you’ve got players that want to be great,” Kelly told Ralph Russo of the Associated Press regarding his decision to head to LSU. "I want to be in an environment where I have the resources to win a national championship."
Kelly took all the credit for the wins but never put any real blame on himself for the failures. Failures like deciding to keep Brian VanGorder for more than one season. Failures like going 23-24 against Top 25 teams, or 4-12 against Top 10 teams during his 12 seasons. Failures like being outscored 14.3 to 38.7 in his three major bowl games, including two playoff games. It was always about needing to make due with Notre Dame's limitations, and the need to "recruit down a different aisle."
One thing Kelly did well was hire defensive coordinators other than VanGorder. His last two losses at LSU were to Clark Lea and Mike Elko, who served as his defensive coordinators from 2017 to 2020. The beating Kelly took from Elko's team last night was the final straw for LSU. Of course, his last defensive coordinator hire - Marcus Freeman - won more major bowl games in just over a week in January than Kelly won it 12 years. Freeman also show that it was actually Kelly who was shopping down the wrong aisle.
Freeman has shown that it was never the players or Notre Dame that kept Kelly from getting over the top. It was always about Kelly.
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