Brian Kelly fired: LSU pays massive buyout despite winning record in 4th season

LSU is firing fourth-year coach Brian Kelly, CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz reports. The move comes after the Tigers failed to live up to high expectations during a disappointing 2025 season. Kelly, 64, is in the midst of a 5-3 season in Baton Rouge. His buyout of more than $50 million will be the second largest ever paid to a college football coach.

A Sunday of contentious meetings in Baton Rouge culminated in Kelly’s exit. CBS Sports previously reported that Kelly arrived at the football field in the morning hoping to fire offensive coordinator Joe Sloan.:

Kelly, 64, arrived at the facility around 8:30-8:45 a.m. local time with the intention of evaluating his team and, according to sources, exploring significant potential changes to the coaching staff. By early afternoon, however, after a meeting with Woodward that didn’t go well, sources said, the conversation around Kelly’s future began to shift. Multiple staff members told CBS Sports that Kelly left the facility shortly afterward.

The day ends with Kelly’s ouster. Running backs coach Frank Wilson will be the interim coach. A 30-day transfer window for LSU players opens Monday (the NCAA’s single window for this cycle is Jan. 2-16).

The high-profile change in leadership from athletic director Scott Woodward, who hired Kelly in 2021, is the latest in what has already been a whirlwind of a coaching carousel cycle. LSU tops the list of programs looking for a home hire, along with Penn State, Florida, Virginia Tech and many others at the Power Four level.

Woodward, by the way, is the same AD who hired Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M — setting the stage for Fisher to receive an unprecedented $76.8 million buyout. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry participated in the deliberations, sources told CBS Sports. Landry called out the football program after Saturday night’s 49-25 loss to Texas A&M, tweeting that LSU needed to “rethink its actions to raise ticket prices for next year after tonight’s performance!”

With its sights set on reaching the College Football Playoff, LSU invested heavily in its roster through the transfer portal and stocked up on talent with the cycle’s No. 1-ranked class, according to 247Sports. This recruiting campaign indicated that LSU was very capable of competing for an SEC championship and its first CFP berth of the Kelly era.

The Tigers’ defense has improved significantly with the addition of instant-impact playmakers, but unlike in previous years, it’s the offense that has struggled to hold up its end of the bargain this season. LSU is averaging its fewest points per game since 2009 and its fewest yards per game since 2011.

Failing to meet high expectations for the fourth time in as many years was the final straw for Kelly in ending his reign in Baton Rouge. The angst around the LSU program reached palpable levels with the Week 9 loss to No. 3 Texas A&M. Chants of “Fire Kelly” echoed throughout Tiger Stadium as LSU blew a halftime lead and fell resoundingly to the Aggies in a 49-25 loss. LSU has a bye this weekend and then plays rival Alabama.

LSU’s recruiting class for the 2026 cycle ranks No. 11 overall, according to 247Sports. In 2025, the Bayou Bengals signed a No. 7 class that ranked higher before the decommitment of No. 1 recruit Bryce Underwood, who started every game at QB for Michigan this fall.

Kelly’s buyout is one of the largest in college football. Programs haven’t been deterred by colossal buyouts during this turbulent cycle, however, and LSU is the latest to devour a significant chunk of cash to make a change. The athletic department owes Kelly more than $52 million for parting ways with him during the season. The buyout calls for Kelly to receive 90% of the salary owed through the end of his contract, which amounts to $52,380,000 at the end of the season.

The most expensive buyouts in college football history

Because LSU fired Kelly midway through the campaign, it also must pay him 90% of the $9.4 million in salary remaining due for the 2025 season.

Who’s next at LSU?

Any coaching search that Scott Woodward has his hands on should involve a lot of big hitters. For better or worse, that’s the type of hire he’s looking for. This is why names like Lane Kiffin and James Franklin are in LSU’s candidate listaccording to Chris Hummer of CBS Sports. However, three major wild cards will attract attention (copy via Hummer).

• Jimbo Fisher: I know suggesting Fisher here seems absurd. But remember, it was Woodward who hired Fisher at Texas A&M and believed in him so much that he gave Fisher a historically lucrative contract to lure him from Florida State. Fisher’s star has visibly dimmed. But Woodward actively pursued Fisher when he led LSU’s search in 2021. Fisher has deep ties to LSU and is a national championship-winning coach. It’s a marriage that makes a lot of sense if you can ignore Fisher’s last two seasons in College Station.
• Dabo Swinney: Swinney is having his worst season as Clemson head coach since 2010. Could Woodward follow his Texas A&M playbook and lure a national champion to Baton Rouge? Swinney is a proven program builder and seems to fit in culturally at LSU in a way that Kelly never managed to do. If Swinney wants a fresh start, you could choose far worse places than Baton Rouge to do it. But like Fisher, you have to wonder if Swinney would be a hot enough signing at this point in his career.
• Nick Saban: It was only earlier this week that Saban said, “I want to stay retired.” But if there was any job outside of Alabama that might tempt Saban, it would be LSU, where he won his first national championship. Would he accept the job if it was offered to him? Probably not. But Woodward’s history tells you he’ll at least ask.

Breakthrough season eludes Brian Kelly

LSU is a proud program with national championship expectations (its previous three coaches won one) and thus faced an inherent risk when it hired Kelly ahead of the 2022 season. The longtime Notre Dame coach failed to get over the championship hump in his previous spot and reached the CFP just once. The same problems followed him to LSU and ultimately spelled the end of his tenure.

The Tigers have never won more than nine regular season games under Kelly’s leadership. They generally came close to SEC title contention but routinely fell short, losing at least two conference games in each of Kelly’s four years at the helm. What was particularly frustrating for the Tigers faithful was seeing the program fail at championships despite a superb run at quarterback with Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and future NFL draft pick Garrett Nussmeier.

LSU reached No. 3 in the AP Top 25 this season, reaching its highest ranking in the Kelly era. The Tigers have cracked the top 10 in each of his four years, indicating that they often came close to earning a playoff spot, but had their hopes dashed by untimely defeats.

Brian Kelly at a crossroads in his coaching career

One of the biggest questions Kelly faces going forward is whether he will look for a new job or whether he will hit the pause or stop buttons on his career. The 64-year-old could have several jobs to choose from given the widespread movement on the coaching carousel, but could also become a more attractive target in future cycles if he takes time off.

If Kelly were to spend the 2026 season away from the bench, it would mark his first year without a head coaching job since 1990, before his debut. This is the first time in Kelly’s career that he has been fired. He left each of his previous stops – Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, Cincinnati and Notre Dame – to accept offers elsewhere.

Kelly went 34-14 at LSU and has a career mark of 297-109-2 spanning all of his five jobs. He won two Division II national championships at Grand Valley State and reached the BCS national championship game once during his tenure at Notre Dame.

The 2025 coaching carousel is spinning at a historic pace

Kelly is the 12th head coach fired this year and the 10th this season. The 10 coaches fired before November is the highest number in the FBS era (since 1978).

Additionally, Kelly is the eighth Power Conference head coach fired this season. Only four of this variety were canned a year ago. The current number of eight – and there is still a way to go – is the highest since 2022.