LSU fans chanted “Fire Kelly” late in the Tigers’ latest deflating loss — 49-25 at home Saturday to No. 3 Texas A&M — and a day later the school has obliged.
Kelly was fired Sunday evening ending his tenure at LSU eight games into his fourth season.
“When Coach Kelly arrived at LSU four years ago, we had high hopes that he would lead us to multiple SEC and national championships during his time in Baton Rouge,” LSU athletic director Scott Woodward said in a statement. “Ultimately, the success at the level that LSU demands simply did not materialize, and I made the decision to make a change after last night’s game. I am grateful for the ongoing consultations and support of the LSU Board of Supervisors and Interim President Matt Lee in this decision.
“We wish Coach Kelly and his family the very best in their future endeavors. We will continue to negotiate his separation and will work toward a path that is better for both parties.”
The loss Saturday, in which the Tigers led 18-14 at halftime before allowing Texas A&M to reel off 35 straight points, dropped LSU to 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the SEC, taking it out of the SEC race and all but ensuring the program would miss the College Football Playoff for fourth time in Kelly’s four years.
That wasn’t what LSU thought it was paying for when it stunned the college football world by luring Kelly away from Notre Dame with a big contract that will now cost the school a $54 million buyout, per ESPN.
The last three LSU head coaches — Nick Saban, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron — each won national championships, but Kelly could never get the program anywhere near that level. The Tigers’ highest final national ranking under Kelly was No. 12 in 2023 after a second-straight 10-win season to start his tenure.
LSU went 9-4 last year to finish unranked, and is back out of the AP top 25 poll following three losses in the last four games, to Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M. The Tigers were ranked as high as No. 3 earlier this season, so it’s been quite a fall for the team.
Kelly finishes with a 34-14 record at LSU, with the highlights being a SEC West Division title in his first season and Jayden Daniels’ Heisman Trophy season in 2023.
Kelly is the winningest active in college football with a career record of 297-109-2 at Division II Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Notre Dame and LSU. At 64 years old it will be interesting to see what Kelly does next, if he looks to continue his coaching career.
And what LSU does next.
The Tigers are naming Frank Wilson, the running backs coach, as their interim head coach. He was previously a head coach at UTSA (2016-19) and McNeese State (2020-21).
But, of course, LSU will look to make another big splash in hiring its next head coach. Who could that be? Here are five names who should be prominent on the Tigers’ wish list …
Five Coaches LSU Should Target
1. Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin
Kiffin has already been a popular name attached to the Florida opening and will surely be viewed as a top candidate for LSU as well.
What would be more appealing to LSU than an established SEC head coach who is already winning big in the conference. He’s lead Ole Miss to double-digit wins in three of his first five seasons and is on the way doing it again as the No. 7-ranked Rebels are off to a 7-1 start (including that win over LSU when the Tigers were ranked No. 4 in the country).
Of course, if Kiffin has proven he can win big at Ole Miss, does he have any reason to leave? It used to be that jobs a traditional powers like Florida and LSU were viewed as a clear upgrade, but in the NIL and revenue-sharing era of college football, there seems to be less advantage if any in roster-building over fellow power conference schools.
2. Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea
Everybody around college football has taken notice of what Lea is doing at Vanderbilt. The 7-1 Commodores have their highest national ranking (No. 9) since 1937 after beating LSU and Missouri the last two weeks.
Lea also led Vanderbilt to an upset win over then-No. 1 Alabama last year on the way to a seven-win season that marked the program’s most wins since 2013.
Lea is in his fifth season at Vanderbilt, which is his first head-coaching job after working his way up the ranks and spending three years as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator.
3. Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz
Every high-profile job opening is going to be linked to the first three names on this list, so we’re not breaking any new ground here. But for the same reason that Kiffin is attractive, Drinkwitz has proven he can build a consistent winner in the SEC.
Missouri won 21 games over the last two seasons and is 6-2 this year (with its losses to top-10 Alabama and Vanderbilt teams) and ranked No. 19.
In addition to his six-year tenure at Missouri, Drinkwitz spent one season as head coach at Appalachian State, going 12-1.
4. Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall
Would LSU be confident hiring a coach from the Group of Five level? That’s hard to say, but the Tigers need to at least take a long look at Sumrall.
The obvious connection is that he’s already in the state of Louisiana, but the reason why he deserves to be on this list is that his stock is soaring by the year. Sumrall went 12-2 and 11-2 in his two seasons as head coach at Troy, went 9-5 in his first season at Tulane and is off to a 6-1 start and a top contender in the AAC with the potential of leading the Green Wave to the playoffs if it wins the conference.
Sumrall was previously an assistant coach in the SEC for four seasons, as linebackers coach at Ole Miss in 2018 and then three years at Kentucky, adding the co-defensive coordinator title his last year there.
5. Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady
Brady won the Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in college football when he was the passing game coordinator for LSU’s national championship team in 2019. That offense led college football in scoring at 48.4 points per game, so Brady is remembered fondly by Tigers fans.
He’s never been a head coach at any level, but his stock is on the rise again as the Bills offensive coordinator since taking over the role during the 2023 season. He helped QB Josh Allen to a MVP season last year.
Again, it’s hard to say if LSU would be comfortable with a first-time head coach, but bringing back a connection to its last national title team might be enticing enough to roll the dice.