What's next for Brian Kelly?
LSU fired the embattled head coach on Sunday after three-plus seasons with the Tigers.
Kelly, 64, had a 34-14 record at LSU since taking over for Notre Dame. The Tigers made the move after a 49-25 loss to Texas A&M dropped LSU to 5-3 with a 2-3 record in SEC play. Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger reports Kelly and LSU are negotiating the terms on a $53 million buyout.
Kelly has a 179-76 record as a FBS coach through stints with Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Notre Dame and LSU. He also made a BCS championship appearance and two College Football Playoff appearances in a 12-year run with Notre Dame from 2010-21.
The 2025 college football coaching carousel promises to be one of the most-wild in recent memory. Remember, Kelly left Notre Dame for LSU in 2021. Would he have one more major move left late in his coaching career?
Here are some options for what might be next for Kelly:
Brian Kelly takes the Penn State job
This will be the most-frequent connection in the short term. If Kelly stays in college football, then the best bet is that he will coach in either the SEC or Big Ten -- conferences where he would have a shot at chasing his first FBS national championship in a hurry.
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Is Penn State a legitimate option? The two best candidates for the Penn State job were Curt Cignetti and Matt Rhule. Indiana signed Cignetti to a lucrative contract extension worth $11.1 million next season and Rhule -- a Penn State alum -- has made no indication he wants to leave Nebraska.
Kelly would be worth a call at that point. He's made CFP appearances and could work with the talent at Penn State, and Kelly could embrace the challenge of coaching in the Big Ten for the first time.
Kelly was 13-8 against the Big Ten at Notre Dame and 3-1 against the Big Ten at LSU. This is the best fit for Kelly among the current Power 4 openings.
Another option in the Big Ten, albeit a far-less glamorous opening, is UCLA. The Bruins, however, have a five-star quarterback in Nico Iamaleava, and Jerry Neuheisel could be retained as an offensive coordinator. This is an interesting fit if Kelly decides to hit the West Coast.
Brian Kelly takes another job in the SEC
Florida and Arkansas have vacancies, so perhaps Kelly stays in the same conference. Would Kelly be a fit at Florida? The Gators are on their fifth head coach since Urban Meyer left in 2010, and Kelly was 4-5 against top-10 teams while at LSU.
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The Arkansas job also is open. Imagine Fayetteville with Brian Kelly and John Calipari. That would mean interim coach Bobby Petrino -- who is 0-3 since taking over for Sam Pittman -- is gone. The Razorbacks need a larger face-lift than Florida to be competitive in the SEC, however, Kelly would be in for a longer rebuild there. This does not seem like the right fit.
Auburn coach Hugh Freeze is also on the hot seat, so that would be a third school to watch. Auburn won a national championship in 2010, and it is a program that could be a playoff contender. LSU was 2-1 against Auburn with Kelly.
Brian Kelly takes the North Carolina job
This is the one potential ACC job worth watching, and it would generate headlines. Bill Belichick has been a disaster in Chapel Hill to this point. The Tar Heels are 2-5, and the 73-year-old coach also is a candidate to move on after this season.
North Carolina could hire Kelly, who coached against ACC schools for several seasons as part of the five-game arrangement with Notre Dame. Kelly might not be able to win a national championship at North Carolina, but it would be a spot where he could string together four or five solid seasons like Mack Brown – who compiled a 44-33 record from 2019-24.
This would be a huge win for the Tar Heels -- as the program would put the Belichick era in the rear-view mirror the second Kelly steps on campus.
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Brian Kelly takes a job as NFL analyst
Kelly was rumored to be in the mix for NFL jobs occasionally. Could that be the right place for him to reset as an analyst? That path worked for New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, who was an analyst for one season after parting ways with the Tennessee Titans. Vrabel has the Patriots off to a 6-2 start this season.
It's not a perfect analogy, but it's a possible career path for Kelly, who has never coached in the NFL but still had 25 players selected in the NFL Draft over the past four seasons with LSU. It's a less-demanding job than head coach, and it could be a path for Kelly to decompress and decide whether or not he would want to entertain one more head-coaching job.
Brian Kelly retires
Maybe this is the play. Kelly has been a head coach since taking the Grand Valley State job in 1991. He won two national championships in Division II and has had a successful career as a FBS coach. Kelly has not been on television, and Nick Saban and Urban Meyer fill the best spots on Saturday morning TV with ESPN's "College GameDay" and Fox's "Big Noon Kickoff."
Kelly has a huge buyout, and his last two years at LSU -- where he compiled a 14-8 record -- were not his best during the 12-team College Football Playoff. That does not take away from a career where he won 10 or more games in 11 seasons through those stints at Cincinnati, Notre Dame and LSU.
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