According to new reporting from ESPN’s Pete Thamel, LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly has been dismissed from his position, marking the end of his tenure with the college football program.
Earlier on Sunday, talks between the program’s decision-makers were underway, and now all parties have concluded it is better to move on from Kelly, who was in his fourth year with the team.
The Tigers lost 49-25 in Death Valley on Saturday to a dominant Texas A&M team, dropping LSU to 5-3 on the year.
Per Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, LSU athletic director Scott Woodward met with Kelly after the loss to discuss coaching changes, including firing offensive coordinator Joe Sloan.
However, Kelly had other changes in mind, and the conversation quickly became tense.
In the aftermath of the meeting, LSU personnel met to discuss the viability of dismissing the coach, considering his massive buyout clause. At the same time, Kelly and his staff left and awaited a resolution.
“Kelly left the football facility, as did pretty much everyone else on the LSU staff, as they awaited some resolution. Kelly’s agent, Trace Armstrong, did not immediately respond to a request for comment,” Feldman wrote in his story.
“Conversations on Sunday evening were ongoing among Tigers leadership and power brokers that include the state’s governor, Jeff Landry, to assess an immediate path forward with the LSU football program and Kelly’s future in Baton Rouge. Landry met with the LSU Board of Supervisors on Sunday evening to address the matter.”
Kelly’s buyout totals $53 million, a good chunk of change for the coach who left Notre Dame for Baton Rouge.
LSU is one of the top programs in the nation and no doubt has the means to afford the fee and pay top dollar for his replacement.
Kelly replaced former head coach Ed Orgeron, who led the school to a National Championship. The former Notre Dame coach never managed to get the program into a title game, and with this season’s hopes of doing so going down the drain, the organization decided it needed to move on from the esteemed coach and turn the page to another decision-maker.
