LSU under Brian Kelly has yet to taste the playoffs. The hopes were high for the 2025 season, and the Tigers’ start to the proceedings raised further expectations. But that 4-0 start isn’t that rosy anymore. LSU is 5-2 after two defeats in its last three games. In Week 8, they traveled to Nashville and couldn’t get past Diego Pavia. Vanderbilt’s 31-24 victory marks a significant turn in Clark Lea’s fortunes, but for Brian Kelly, the losses are becoming all too familiar. We have already seen several head coaches being let go, and Kelly’s buyout conversation has again picked up steam.

Joining the Tigers in 2021, with a 10-year deal, Brian Kelly signed a contract worth a whopping $95 million. He still has seven years left on his deal, but with the recent defeats, his future appears hung in uncertainty. If the Tigers proceed to part ways with him, his buyout would amount to $53.3 million as of December 1, according to the USA Today Sports salary database, which is among the eighth most expensive buyouts across the CFB landscape. Kelly was set to earn $10,175,000, excluding bonuses, this season.

As per his contract, if he leaves the program before 2031, he would owe $2 million to LSU in ‘liquidated damages.’ The contract further states that, “If the Team wins a National Championship during the Term, the liquidated damage obligation in Section 3 will increase from 90 percent to 100 percent of Base Salary and Supplemental Compensation.

Moreover, his contract includes multiple incentives and bonuses. $100,000 for New Year Six Bowl participant, $75,000 for participation in the SEC Championship Game, $500,000 for SEC Coach of the Year, and others. Another $1 million for a Life Insurance policy and $275,000 for personal air travel. About the bonuses, he could receive a maximum of $1,325,000.

When Kelly joined LSU, AD Scott Woodward had called it a “home-run hire,” describing him as the “epitome of a winner.” Coming off a robust Notre Dame tenure, where he led the program to the BCS National Championship game and two playoff appearances, the winningest coach in Notre Dame history, not to forget the back-to-back 10+ win seasons. But in Baton Rouge, Kelly has not been able to taste a single playoff appearance in the last three years.

Although with back-to-back 10+ wins in his initial two seasons, the Tigers’ faithful hoped for a future playoff appearance or a national championship appearance in the 2025 run, but Kelly has failed to sustain the initial momentum. Presently, he has a 34-14 overall record, with a 19-9 record on the SEC slate.

Given his firing chants have taken root already, names of potential head coach candidates have popped up.

Can former HC Ed Orgeron replace Brian Kelly?

If there’s one thing that is pretty obvious at Baton Rouge, it is that since the 2000s, three head coaches, with distinct coaching styles, have won a national championship in their tenure. So, naturally, coming to LSU, with the tag of the winningest coach at Notre Dame, the Tigers expected another national championship from Brian Kelly. But he has fallen short on those expectations, and now calls have erupted over his firing.

Before Kelly entered LSU, it was Ed Orgeron who steered the command, who had won the national championship just six years ago. He bid farewell to the program after having a 42-49 upset against Florida, and he was let go. With Kelly’s future seemingly uncertain after the Vanderbilt loss, Orgeron’s name had appeared as his potential replacement.

Much to the Tiger’s delight, the former national championship-winning head coach is not yet done with coaching. Back in October, he made it clear that “All depends on what the best thing available is, but I’m ready to coach again,” Orgeron told WAFB-TV back in early October. “I left a little bit of meat on the bone. I’m ready to go.”