The LSU Tigers, after their loss to Texas A&M, have mostly extinguished their hopes for a playoff qualification. The team is 5-3 in the season, and all eyes are on Brian Kelly’s job security now. As expected, when the HC entered the Death Valley, ‘Fire Kelly’ chants were reverberating throughout the first quarter. Not to mention, the sentiment has drowned even more after the game ended.

According to On3, the Baton Rouge powerhouse has finally started to make dire decisions. That also involves a major shakeup of the coaching staff. “Sources have told On3 that coaching staff changes could come as soon as Sunday afternoon. LSU’s offense ranks No. 83 in FBS, averaging 366.6 yards per game,” reported Pete Nakos. Notably, Kelly’s fragile job security has more to do with than just the Texas A&M game.

Surely, with a $53 million buyout, LSU may not push the panic button yet. But considering that we have seen $48 million buyout paid this year already for James Franklin. Brian Kelly is officially on thin ice now.

Before entering Texas A&M, LSU wasn’t exactly earning brownie points for its performances. For instance, the team lost to Vanderbilt before that and had another loss at Ole Miss. All that, when Kelly has the top-10 NFL draft pick QB in Garrett Nussmeier. To make matters worse, the Tigers HC is nowhere near where a playoff contender aspires to be, and is ranked 83rd nationally in scoring offense. Not just that, public opinion is increasingly against the 64-year-old.

“Brian Kelly… left Notre Dame… to win a championship… [but] hasn’t even been to a playoff. If he doesn’t… against Texas A&M? That fire gets turned up real hot,” said ESPN’s Ryan Clark before the Texas A&M game.

For context, according to a WAFB poll, 60% of the fans want him gone if LSU ends up with an eight-win season. This is utterly in contrast with the preseason polls, where Kelly commanded a whopping 70% approval, per Athlon Sports, and fans were quite optimistic about 2025. Even if one combines Kelly’s 2024 and 2025 records together, the head coach is just 7-6 in SEC games. And that’s for the team whose 2019 roster is touted as one of college football’s best ever. The question is: Will LSU take the tough decision come next Saturday?

Will fan sentiment lead to the firing of Brian Kelly?

The next few games for LSU are trickier than ever. The Tigers face Alabama on the road after a bye week, followed by Arkansas and Western Kentucky. Lastly, the team will end its season with a game at Oklahoma. That essentially means Kelly will have to tackle both Alabama and Oklahoma successfully. Surely then, fans would want an interim head coach other than Kelly who could navigate those games. The sentiment, too, is likewise.

“It’s hard to say anything bad about those fans because there was nothing to cheer for, like they were booing. They were p—d. They should have been p—d. That was an ugly performance,” said David Pollack after the Texas A&M game. By the looks of it, it looks like a massive challenge if Kelly coaches further. For one, Alabama hasn’t faltered after the FSU game, and Oklahoma just had a loss against Ole Miss and would try to win all its remaining games to maintain playoff hopes. But even if LSU decides to let Kelly off the hook, will it be feasible financially?

Brian Kelly still has six years left on his contract and has a $53 million buyout value. That isn’t some cheap money and would need massive booster support. Incidentally, the same was said for James Franklin, who had $48 million buyout. But the program took a tough decision despite the cost. For the Tigers, they would have to pay $740,185 in monthly installments, which is big considering revenue sharing is also in place for players. So if that happens, “LSU would need to feel extremely confident it had a superior coach lined up… [but] no buyout is too large,” weighed CBS Sports’ Robby Kalland.