“We’re taking receipts … and we’ll see you at the national championship,” said Brian Kelly after taking down Oklahoma last year. But the reality check hit this season. The Tigers were ranked No. 9 in the AP poll during the preseason and were in the top 10 for the first five polls. Losing to Mississippi and Vanderbilt on the road, and the most recent embarrassing 49-25 loss of Texas A&M at home, was enough to pull the trigger. Three losses, offensive struggles, and 3 seasons without playoffs were already pushing his fate, but political pressure acted as the last nail in the coffin.

Less than 24 hours after the defeat on Sunday night, Brian Kelly was fired. Conversations took place in the Governor’s office between LSU Board members and Jeff Landry, and after evaluating every detail, the HC was relieved of his duties, leaving them with a $100 million buyout. Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger confirmed the entire stance while discussing with Andy Staples and Steven Godfrey.

“I think, after a meeting at the Louisiana Governor’s Mansion—because of course, the governor is involved—that the decision was made by Scott Woodward, the athletic director, and other people who were in attendance at that meeting, including donors and board members, that they would fire Brian Kelly. Yeah, it was a wild few hours, and I still sort of can’t believe it,” he said. But one question pops up: why did this decision take place in the governor’s office?

Brian Kelly’s firing involved multiple sets of decision-making, and the team lacked a permanent president who could come in and make a firm decision. Their former president, William F. Tate IV, left the Tigers and moved to Rutgers this year. Then, even Matt Lee ascended to the interim role in July. So, that’s when Jeff Landry stepped into the entire process. Moreover, Landry already has a significant influence on the university.

He appointed 6 of the 14 members of the LSU Board of Supervisors and is also due to appoint 4 more next year when their terms end. Dellenger confirmed it with his tweet: “The governor of Louisiana who has hand picked the LSU Board of Supervisors, which controls key personnel decisions at the school.” Looking at his tweet after the game, it’s pretty clear that Landry was already furious with the loss.

“LSU Board of Supervisors needs to rethink their actions to raise ticket prices for next year after tonight’s showing,” he said. And cut to the next. Brian Kelly is out of the team, and associate HC Frank Wilson is now the interim head coach of LSU. So, if you are not on good terms with your governor, things tend to go south in Louisiana.

Godfrey explains it clearly: “Louisiana, it’s like if you know how a coach is kind of lame-ducked if there’s a new athletic director that comes in that didn’t hire him. It’s kind of like if you don’t have, if you aren’t sort of in league with the current governor, then you have a chance to fall out of favor dramatically.”  And Brian Kelly’s disagreement with AD Scott Woodward just added more fuel to the fire.

As per multiple sources that told The Athletic, after losing three games, Woodward wanted Kelly to make some staff changes, and first among those was firing Joe Sloan and trying to fix the offense that’s ranked last in rushing yards per game in the SEC. But rather than firing the play caller, Kelly wanted to make some other changes, and during their Sunday afternoon meeting, things got intense, and the result is pretty loud and clear.

But here’s the real deal: buyout settlement. The LSU Tigers are set to pay Brian Kelly more than $53 million, but the exact number is still not known. Now, as per On3’s tweet: “NEW: With Brian Kelly’s current buyout, the all-in cost to fire him/his staff and make the next hire is in the $100M range, @PeteNakos_ reports. 🤯” Which means LSU might have to give Kelly a hefty amount of $100 million. Coming in from Notre Dame in 2021, Kelly signed a 10-year deal worth $95 million, which also includes incentives.

This makes his buyout the second-highest in college football history. With 6 years remaining on the deal, he will get paid 90% of his salary until his contract expires if he gets fired. So, if LSU doesn’t negotiate, Brian Kelly will earn $7.4 million a month until December 31st, 2031. Now, it will be interesting to see how the governor and LSU’s board get on terms with Kelly after this move!