It was a night of debuts in Fargo, North Dakota, on Saturday.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Kelly was working alongside play-by-play announcer Rich Waltz and color commentator Adam Breneman.<\/p>\n
Brian Kelly makes his CBS color commentator debut for the Jacksonville State-North Dakota State game on CBS Sports Network. \ud83c\udfc8\ud83c\udf99\ufe0f https:\/\/t.co\/w0qHXMAVGj<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/pX1PSgzBuv<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n 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 \u2014 a reference to his introduction at LSU, during which he put some twang on his voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n What accent did he use?<\/p>\n \u2014 PK0137 (@PapiLoco73) August 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n But did he do it with a Louisiana accent?<\/p>\n \u2014 Chris From KS (@ChrisFromKS) August 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Beyond the jokes, it felt like the reaction was largely mixed to Kelly\u2019s debut performance. He offered some insight into managing the stadium clock crew after the scoreboard went a bit wonky at the FargoDome.<\/p>\n Brian Kelly: \u201cThis would be a Monday morning meeting with the game management crew in my office, if I\u2019m at home and the clock\u2019s running.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam Breneman: \u201cGive us an idea of the things you would say.\u201d<\/p>\n Kelly: \u201cJust \u2018You guys need to do a better job,\u2019 and I\u2019d leave it at that.\u201d https:\/\/t.co\/Xytc1WW6Ej<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/1n1NYRnhI2<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Brian Kelly: \u201cI don\u2019t 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\u2019s a lot of flopping going on out here right now. So, we\u2019ve got to clean that up.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/8uDCNHJKQf<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Overall, Kelly was fine. Some of his critics said he didn\u2019t seem to talk all that much for a commentator, but making your debut in a three-man booth means there\u2019s twice as many people you have to make sure you\u2019re not talking over. It\u2019s something he\u2019ll have to adjust to. For the most part, some thought Kelly had some good insight, others simply didn\u2019t like him, and others still said they at least preferred Kelly the analyst over Kelly the coach.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a sampling of the reaction he received online.<\/p>\n Gotta say\u2026 really enjoying Brian Kelly as a color commentator on CBSSN. A lot of really good insights.<\/p>\n \u2014 Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) August 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n I\u2019ll say this for Brian Kelly:<\/p>\n For whatever he may lack in natural broadcast talent or compelling insight, he does possess a uniquely grating, unlistenable voice.<\/p>\n \u2014 Chris Buchignani (@buchignani) August 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Brian Kelly might be a DAWG on commentary<\/p>\n \u2014 Liam Blutman (@Blutman27) August 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n I like Brian Kelly better as a game analyst\/commentator than as a coach.<\/p>\n \u2014 SportsHutch (@SportsHutch) August 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Im a fan of Brian Kelly in the booth. Good energy and football IQ. https:\/\/t.co\/Rx55e5pMVb<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Luke (@luke3342) August 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n As the game wound down to a 33\u20137 win for the Bison, Kelly expressed his thanks to his teammates in his closing comments.<\/p>\n \u201cYou guys have been great. You\u2019ve taken me in. I\u2019ll have to get better to keep up with you guys, but thanks for making this one easier than I thought.\u201d<\/p>\n He also apparently joined Waltz and Breneman on a trip to see the infamous wood chipper from the film Fargo.<\/p>\n Brian Kelly on his CBS Sports color commentator debut: \u201cI\u2019ll have to get better to keep up with you guys, but thanks for making this one a little bit easier than I thought.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/TTaGRC0dwR<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s fair to say that Kelly\u2019s debut was good enough. It was far from a disaster, but also not an instant launchpad to a great career in broadcasting. We won\u2019t have a real sense of Kelly\u2019s knack for this for at least a few more games.<\/p>\n \t