Brian Kelly Leaving Notre Dame For LSU
The winningest head coach in Notre Dame football history, Brian Kelly, is officially heading to the SEC.
As the coaching carousel continues to spin, one of the most marquee jobs in the country is now off the list. On Monday night, it was announced that Brian Kelly will be leaving Notre Dame for the LSU Tigers’ head coaching position.
The Tigers and former head coach Ed Orgeron announced a separation agreement back in October, leading to the Tigers’ coaching search towards the end of the season. And now, it looks like the replacement has been made.
Kelly is one of the premier coaches in all of college football, racking up 54 wins in the last five seasons. Not only that, Kelly has led the Fighting Irish to the College Football Playoffs in two of the last three seasons.
From a Tennessee perspective, the Vols will get an early look at LSU’s team under Kelly in 2022. Tennessee will take a trip down to Baton Rouge, with LSU led by Brian Kelly, in what will be his fourth game in Tiger Stadium. That game will be played on Oct. 8, though, the time is still to be announced.
According to The Athletic’s Matt Fortuna and Brody Miller, Kelly’s deal “is a 10-year deal that will take him north of $100 million with incentives” at LSU.
While at Notre Dame, Kelly has not had a season with more than four losses since 2016 when the Fighting Irish had an uncharacteristic eight-loss season. However, in the last four seasons, Notre Dame only has a maximum of two losses each year. Currently, in 2021, Kelly has led the program to an 11-1 record with the Fighting Irish sitting at sixth in the Top 25 AP poll.
Late on Monday night, just after the news broke, a text was sent from Kelly to his Notre Dame players, which is via Pete Sampson of The Athletic.
Just now Brian Kelly messaged Notre Dame’s roster in Team Works that “I will be leaving Notre Dame.”
The plan is for Kelly to meet with the team tomorrow at 7 a.m.
Here is the full message pic.twitter.com/sqAl2txZIy
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) November 30, 2021
As of early Tuesday morning, LSU has not officially announced the hire of Brian Kelly. However, as Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger points out, Kelly has already started to make his own changes.
#LSU hasn't yet announced the hire but… pic.twitter.com/5gRD5wOzmE
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) November 30, 2021
