It was a night of debuts in Fargo, North Dakota, on Saturday.
On the field, the North Dakota State Bison were playing in their first game at the FBS level, hosting the Jacksonville State Gamecocks at the FargoDome. Meanwhile, up in the CBS Sports Network broadcast booth, former Notre Dame and LSU coach Brian Kelly was making his own debut as a college football analyst.
Kelly was working alongside play-by-play announcer Rich Waltz and color commentator Adam Breneman.
Brian Kelly makes his CBS color commentator debut for the Jacksonville State-North Dakota State game on CBS Sports Network. 🏈🎙️ https://t.co/w0qHXMAVGj pic.twitter.com/pX1PSgzBuv
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 29, 2026
Online, many college football fans landed on the same joke to welcome Kelly to the booth, wondering what accent he would be using on the broadcast — a reference to his introduction at LSU, during which he put some twang on his voice.
What accent did he use?
— PK0137 (@PapiLoco73) August 29, 2026
But did he do it with a Louisiana accent?
— Chris From KS (@ChrisFromKS) August 29, 2026
Beyond the jokes, it felt like the reaction was largely mixed to Kelly’s debut performance. He offered some insight into managing the stadium clock crew after the scoreboard went a bit wonky at the FargoDome.
Brian Kelly: “This would be a Monday morning meeting with the game management crew in my office, if I’m at home and the clock’s running.”
Adam Breneman: “Give us an idea of the things you would say.”
Kelly: “Just ‘You guys need to do a better job,’ and I’d leave it at that.” https://t.co/Xytc1WW6Ej pic.twitter.com/1n1NYRnhI2
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 29, 2026
And in an absolutely classic bit of Football Guy talk, Kelly spent a little bit of his spare time in the booth taking a shot at soccer for all the flopping.
Brian Kelly: “I don’t mean this in any disrespectful manner to the game of soccer. I loved it. We all watched it, right? As our team was doing well. But there’s a lot of flopping going on out here right now. So, we’ve got to clean that up.” pic.twitter.com/8uDCNHJKQf
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 29, 2026
Overall, Kelly was fine. Some of his critics said he didn’t seem to talk all that much for a commentator, but making your debut in a three-man booth means there’s twice as many people you have to make sure you’re not talking over. It’s something he’ll have to adjust to. For the most part, some thought Kelly had some good insight, others simply didn’t like him, and others still said they at least preferred Kelly the analyst over Kelly the coach.
Here’s a sampling of the reaction he received online.
Gotta say… really enjoying Brian Kelly as a color commentator on CBSSN. A lot of really good insights.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) August 29, 2026
I’ll say this for Brian Kelly:
For whatever he may lack in natural broadcast talent or compelling insight, he does possess a uniquely grating, unlistenable voice.
— Chris Buchignani (@buchignani) August 30, 2026
Brian Kelly might be a DAWG on commentary
— Liam Blutman (@Blutman27) August 29, 2026
I like Brian Kelly better as a game analyst/commentator than as a coach.
— SportsHutch (@SportsHutch) August 30, 2026
Im a fan of Brian Kelly in the booth. Good energy and football IQ. https://t.co/Rx55e5pMVb
— Luke (@luke3342) August 29, 2026
As the game wound down to a 33–7 win for the Bison, Kelly expressed his thanks to his teammates in his closing comments.
“You guys have been great. You’ve taken me in. I’ll have to get better to keep up with you guys, but thanks for making this one easier than I thought.”
He also apparently joined Waltz and Breneman on a trip to see the infamous wood chipper from the film Fargo.
Brian Kelly on his CBS Sports color commentator debut: “I’ll have to get better to keep up with you guys, but thanks for making this one a little bit easier than I thought.” pic.twitter.com/TTaGRC0dwR
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 30, 2026
It’s fair to say that Kelly’s debut was good enough. It was far from a disaster, but also not an instant launchpad to a great career in broadcasting. We won’t have a real sense of Kelly’s knack for this for at least a few more games.