LSU came into the 2025 season with lofty expectations under Brian Kelly, but after a third loss to a ranked opponent in four weeks, the Tigers are now 5-3 overall, 2-3 in SEC play and all but eliminated from College Football Playoff contention.
After losing to Ole Miss at home in Week 6, LSU went on the road and lost to Vanderbilt in Week 8 before getting blasted at home 49-25 by No. 3 Texas A&M on Saturday night. The Tigers jumped out to an 18-14 halftime lead over the Aggies but were dominated 35-7 in the second half in one of the most embarrassing losses of Kelly’s tenure. It was so bad that “fire Kelly!” chants were heard across Tiger Stadium during A&M’s second-half onslaught.
With No. 4 Alabama looming on the schedule following an off week, pressure is at an all-time high for Kelly to lead the Tigers to big wins if he’s going to quiet the noise about his job status.
With the loss on Saturday, Kelly is now 34-14 in his four seasons at LSU, where the Tigers have lost at least three games in each of his seasons in charge and failed to reach the Playoff. Given the expectation at LSU is to win national championships, that streak continuing with such a lopsided home loss certainly raises questions about whether Kelly should remain in his post leading the Tigers.
Brian Kelly contract, buyout details
Kelly signed a 10-year contract in 2021 and is making $9.4 million this season, with 6 years and $58.2 million remaining on his deal that runs through 2031. His buyout calls for Kelly to be paid 90% of his salary through the remainder of his contract, which would be $52,380,000 if he’s fired after this season. If they fire him during the season, they’d add 90% of whatever is remaining of the $9.4 million he’s owed for this year to that figure.
Kelly, who is 63 years old, could also look at retirement after this season if he felt it was best for him to step down. We’ve seen a number of long-time coaches step away from college football in recent years, citing the changing landscape of revenue-sharing and NIL, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Kelly could step away willingly — or at least, amicably.
In any case, with the coaching carousel already spinning quickly, we could see more teams entering the fray after James Franklin’s firing at Penn State made it clear that no buyout is too large. Arkansas and Florida are already open, and a number of other SEC teams could be mulling coaching changes in what figures to be one of the crazier years for coaching movement.
That said, the $52-plus million that would be owed to Kelly is one of the 10 biggest in the sport and LSU would need to feel extremely confident it had a superior coach lined up to make that kind of decision.
