By Rock Westfall
When Brian Kelly smashed his fist on the table at the postgame press conference after a 27-20 season-opening loss to the USC Trojans in Las Vegas, it was with good reason. Love him or hate him, Kelly knows football. He realized that LSU should have beaten an undisciplined USC team that was poorly led, unorganized, and incompetently coached.
An ANGRY Brian Kelly ripped his LSU team following the game
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) September 2, 2024
Last week, the Nebraska Cornhuskers suffered a similar experience when they left USC off the hook with self-inflicted errors in a 28-20 road defeat that should have been a win. And Nebraska is not nearly as talented as LSU.
Kelly and his Tigers are 6-4 and coming off a dispiriting 27-16 road loss to the underachieving and wildly inconsistent Florida Gators. The Bayou Bengals are on a three-game losing streak in Kelly’s third season, which most observers believed would be a near-certain run to the College Football Playoff.
Kelly was touted as a sure thing when he was hired. But that has not proven to be the case. And LSU did not give Kelly a $95 million contract to be struggling for a mid-level bowl game in Year 3, especially with college football coaching GOAT Nick Saban retired from the Alabama Crimson Tide.
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LSU’s not going fire Brian Kelly anytime soon. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/dnYSK5j3YY
— Newy Scruggs (@newyscruggs) November 17, 2024
As the crisis and fan revolt grows, Kelly faces three key threats to his tenure with LSU.
Since leaving Notre Dame, Brian Kelly has a 4-7 record against ranked opponents at LSU.
His Fighting Irish replacement, Marcus Freeman, has a record of 10-4 against ranked opponents in the same span. pic.twitter.com/SCuuK0VPeN
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) October 27, 2024
Can Brian Kelly Mend Abrasive Relations With His Players?
During last Saturday’s loss at Florida, Kelly was caught ripping and raging into his players. This was not an isolated incident; rather, it was repeat theatrics by a man who remains in the habit of having the upper hand with his players.
When Kelly built up his resume as head coach of Central Michigan and Cincinnati, there was no NIL or transfer portal to deal with. He had control of his players and could coach them any way that he wanted.
"The important thing is you have to have a great relationship with the player, otherwise you can't make the point that way"
Brian Kelly breaks down a heated moment on the sideline from Saturday with Garrett Nussmeier: pic.twitter.com/YFLKs1BOFr
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) September 30, 2024
In those days when players were powerless, Kelly advanced to Notre Dame, where the same rules applied. By his third season, Kelly had his team in the National Championship Game.
Subsequently, Kelly posted double-digit win seasons in six of his final seven seasons before taking over at LSU, where NFL-level players in the new player’s rights era have the upper hand. Concurrently, Players use the transfer portal and NIL as perpetual threats against hard coaching and accountability.
Kelly will have to learn to navigate the world of player empowerment at LSU, where the roster is loaded with coveted players who can easily be poached via the portal. This does not mean total capitulation and coaching in fear like so many of his counterparts are guilty of. However, Kelly’s purple-headed rage is no longer effective when working without a captive roster.
I am not a professional lip reader….
But…
Sure did look like Brian Kelly told Chris Hilton this on the sideline…
“Don’t walk away from me! You are f**king uncoachable. Who the f**k do you think you are?”#LSU #Florida #SEC pic.twitter.com/L9v5sr5OUf
— Hunter McCann (@mccann_hunter) November 16, 2024
Can Brian Kelly Improve LSU’s Player Procurement and Interior Line Play?
Brian Kelly has recruited well at LSU, with class rankings of 5th in 2023 and 7th in 2024. His current 2025 class is promising and ranked 4th best. But Kelly’s comments last spring about NIL continue to haunt him and are used against him by rival coaches.
“We’re not in the market of buying players. And unfortunately, right now, that’s what some guys are looking for. They want to be bought.”
In today’s college football and SEC, that dog won’t hunt and the negative word has already spread like wildfire.
Also problematic is that LSU ranks 109th for rushing yardage and 66th against the rush this season. A lack of quality interior line play is suicidal in the SEC and mandatory for championship success. Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels are the best examples of SEC interior line improvement and its rich rewards.
"Nobody else is on the field with us. No fan, student, or coach. It's on the players who walk out there. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror and go handle business."#LSU's run game has been inconsistent, but why?
Execution and Communication ⬇️https://t.co/YWp4Fqq7vu
— Bryce Koon (@bryce_koon) November 20, 2024
Can Brian Kelly Preserve His Coaching Credibility?
Brian Kelly arrived at Baton Rouge with unimpeachable credibility as a head coach. The theory was that Kelly would flourish at LSU without the academic restrictions of Notre Dame.
Instead, Notre Dame is thriving and on its way to the College Football Playoff without Kelly while he struggles against the tougher SEC gauntlet and its cutthroat, take-no-prisoners recruiting wars, which were not factors at Notre Dame.
Since taking over LSU and ND in 2022:
Marcus Freeman – 28-8
Brian Kelly – 26-11Record vs ranked opponents:
Marcus Freeman – 10-4
Brian Kelly – 4-8— College Football Watcher (@CFBWatcher) November 19, 2024
Furthermore, Kelly never won a national championship at Notre Dame and was consistently outclassed in championship-level postseason games. His record against quality opponents continues to deteriorate compared with that of other SEC coaches.
If Kelly does not win his final two games of the 2024 regular season at Tiger Stadium against the Vanderbilt Commodores and Oklahoma Sooners, his coaching credibility with top prospects will be damaged, perhaps beyond repair.
Kelly has a small window to stop the bleeding, repair relationships, save a strong recruiting class, and regroup for a 2025 campaign that will make or break his career.
You have to wonder if fewer teams will take the risk of giving long-term, expensive contracts to coaches after Jimbo Fisher and Brian Kelly serve as cautionary tales. On Saturday, a coach with a much lower profile outcoached Kelly with less talent on his roster.
— Bill Kent (@kentwilliam94) November 18, 2024