Ultimately, the crushing loss at home to the Texas A&M Aggies was too much for the LSU Tigers to take. Now, Brian Kelly has been relieved of his duties as head coach for the college football program in Baton Rouge, with four games to go in the 2025 NCAA season.
With the decision to fire Kelly, Louisiana State University accepted it will have to foot a very tall bill as the head coach’s contract boasted one of the largest buyouts across all of college football.
According to Sports Illustrated, Kelly’s contract buyout ranked 9th in the nation with an approximate of $53.3 million if the Tigers fired him without cause before December 1st. That LSU did, and it is now up to pay Kelly a lot of money for him not to coach the school in Baton Rouge.
Out goes Kelly, in comes Wilson
With Kelly leaving midway through the 2025 college football campaign, LSU needed another coach to step up and keep the team afloat in an ultra-competitive environment like the SEC. All hope is not yet lost for the Tigers, but it might take a miracle to salvage the year in Bayou State.
Former head coach of the LSU Tigers Brian Kelly.
As LSU heads into a bye week, reports from insider Ross Dellenger indicate associate head coach and running backs coach Frank Wilson will take over as interim for the Fighting Tigers.
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Still, there’s a bigger question that still misses an answer: who will the school hire as head coach? Most probably, a formal hire for the vacant job will be made for the 2026 NCAA campaign. All signs indicate LSU will ride out the rest of the year with Wilson as interim.
It’s too early to tell who will succeed Kelly’s tenure in Baton Rouge. However, as soon as news broke of Kelly’s firing, several names emerged all over social media as potential replacements. Some are more utopic than others, but in college football anything can happen.
Who could be the chosen one?
Perhaps, the most popular pick among fans in Louisiana is current Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin. Coming off a statement road victory over Oklahoma, the coach out of Nick Saban’s tree proved his value as a mastermind in the SEC.
Ed Orgeron back during his time with LSU
Former passing game coordinator Joe Brady is another name to watch, as the Tigers could favor the return of a familiar face to their facilities in the Child of the Mississippi. If a homecoming is what LSU is after, then who better than Ed Orgeron—the man who coached the Tigers to a national championship in 2019, leading one of the best teams in college football history? ‘Coach O’ himself has made it clear he’s considering a return to the sidelines.
However, LSU could instead place its chips on head coaches currently making noise in college football, rather than some living off their history. On that note, ESPN suggests the following could be in contention for the vacant job: Missouri HC Eli Drinkwitz, Georgia Tech HC Brent Key, and Tulane HC Jon Sumrall. In addition, some believe Marcus Freeman could be a name to watch. Poaching Notre Dame’s head coaches in consecutive hirings would certainly set a precedent for LSU and its relationship with the school in Indiana.
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Either way, a decision is still a long way off for the Tigers. For now, the squad in Baton Rouge must report to Wilson and give its best effort to keep its hopes alive amid a drama-filled NCAA campaign.
