Brian Kelly didn’t get a clean exit from Notre Dame when he came to LSU. But one thing was still clear: being Notre Dame’s winningest head coach, he knew how to win. LSU handed him a 10-year, $95 million contract. However, midway through his fourth season at LSU, Kelly was shown the exit door. It was not because he failed to win, but for a major reason he himself details.

“I think, certainly for me, when you’ve been fired, it’s the initial reaction to, all right, what are the things that I could have done better?” Kelly said on The Independent podcast on July 14. “There was a reason why they wanted to make a change. So, the first thing you have to do is look at the things that you didn’t do well enough. And look, at the end of the day, I didn’t win enough games.”

The most significant reason for Kelly’s firing was that LSU stopped winning the games that mattered most. He finished with a 34-14 record and reached one SEC championship game in 2022. But he never took the Tigers to the playoffs. The 2025 LSU team fell apart after entering the year with playoff hopes.

The Tigers lost to Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, then suffered a crushing 49-25 home defeat against Texas A&M. That loss dropped LSU to 5-3 and 2-3 in SEC play. Athletic director Scott Woodward decided the program was no longer moving toward championships. The problems also went beyond the win-loss record. LSU invested heavily in the transfer portal and surrounded QB Garrett Nussmeier with one of the country’s most expensive rosters. In return, the program got only disappointment.

“We could talk about 72 different other reasons why having a .700 winning percentage and being 22-and-3 at home is not winning. But that’s what it is,” Kelly expanded. “So, you can’t keep going back to that. You’ve got to go and look at what I needed to do better in my tenure at LSU. So that’s really what I think the most important element is, and whatever that’s called in this process. Maybe acceptance.”

Several off-field issues also damaged Brian Kelly’s standing inside the program. Reports after his firing described concerns that he had delegated too much responsibility to assistants, rather than personally overseeing key parts of the program. Critics also questioned his involvement in recruiting and his connection with players. Anonymous people around the program told reporters they believed LSU lacked the culture and leadership expected from a championship contender.

Kelly himself later admitted he gave young coordinators too much freedom in some situations. His relationship with fans never fully recovered, either, after several public controversies during his tenure. Looking back, Kelly probably had several chances to change the story. Greater involvement in recruiting could have strengthened long-term roster building. LSU also needed better performance in marquee SEC games. 

For now, Kelly has stayed active since leaving LSU. He recently accepted a role with CBS Sports as a college football analyst, calling Mountain West games while appearing on studio coverage. He has visited programs to study modern football operations and has spent time with Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur.