LSU fired head football coach Brian Kelly after LSU fell to 5-3, suffering a blowout loss at the hands of Texas A&M. The Tigers surrendered 49 points, the most they’ve allowed at home since 2020.
The news was reported by Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger.
Kelly departs Baton Rouge with a 34-14 record over his four seasons without a College Football Playoff appearance. His buyout is reportedly around $53.3 million, the eighth-highest in the country.
Sunday afternoon, reports started to flood out saying Kelly’s future was being discussed by LSU decision makers. At that point, the writing was on the wall.
Later, reports emerged detailing a tense meeting between Kelly and LSU AD Scott Woodward.
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LSU lacks a permanent president, which has complicated the process. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry was engaged in discussions with LSU officials throughout the process. Eventually, Sunday night, news of a scheduled team meeting broke.
The Texas A&M blowout came a week after falling on the road at Vanderbilt. It marked LSU’s third loss in four games.
Against ranked opponents under Kelly, LSU was 5-11. Three of those losses came in 2025. In addition to the Aggies and the Commodores, the Tigers fell at Ole Miss for their first loss of the season. Everything came crumbling down from there, and suddenly, a once-hopeful roster is now limping through the rest of the season.
Kelly’s squad generated national championship buzz in the offseason. They retained starting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and linebacker Whit Weeks while bringing in the nation’s top-ranked transfer portal class, piecing together experienced players in all three facets.
LSU showed promise early in Kelly’s tenure. He delivered immediate improvement, leading LSU to an SEC West title in 2022. In 2023, LSU had the best offense in the country, but a lackluster defense resulted in a 9-3 record. In 2024, LSU regressed, going 8-4.
This was supposed to be the year LSU took the next step under Kelly. At one point, the expectations look warranted. LSU’s Week 1 win over Clemson, for a moment, was considered a statement victory. But as it turned out, Clemson wasn’t all that good, and neither was LSU.
LSU failed to establish any sort of rhythm on offense behind poor offensive line play as Nussmeier played through injury. LSU’s wide receiver room was supposed to be one of the most talented in the SEC, but the production has fallen short of expectations.
On defense, LSU continued to improve in Blake Baker’s second year, but LSU couldn’t get enough stops vs. dynamic offenses like Vanderbilt and Texas A&M.
By failing to capitalize on arguably his most talented roster to date, Kelly finds himself unemployed. He’s the third SEC coach to be let go midseason in 2025, following former Florida head coach Billy Napier and Arkansas’s Sam Pittman.