Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers had hit the most impressive turnaround. All the credit goes to Kelly. When the head coach walked in, he had everything: tradition, facilities, and a fanbase. The only thing missing was the NIL budget. Everything changed in the 2025 cycle. Pete Nakos reported Kelly tripled its operating budget compared to last calendar year, hitting the $20 million mark. But with great power comes great responsibility. According to an LSU insider, the jury is still out on Kelly’s budget-using skills.

On October 21, Jacques Doucet posted a clip of the LSU Staff Writer at TigerBait.com, Preston Guy. He said, “Boosters can choose what funds to donate to. They can choose to donate to TAF. They can choose to donate to your NIL fund. They can choose to donate to a coach’s buyout if they want to. And if you don’t believe in your coach why would you be donating to players just to see them wasted?” With Kelly, the Tigers squad is now buying into one narrative: LSU hired a big-name coach in 2021, not a big-game coach.

Kelly’s now 5-10 against ranked opponents at LSU after losing to No. 18 Vanderbilt. That’s when his million-dollar investment comes under the radar. After shelling out around $20 million to build the team and more on coaching salaries, LSU’s season can only be called a failure. And guess what? Even Guy believes it.

He said, “A lot of people are looking at this and saying, well, ‘He’s wasting $20 million of talent right now on the field.’ A lot of people believe in this 85. I believe this 85-player roster is good enough to be in a 12-team playoff. I don’t think that’s particularly close, in my opinion.”

Here is the tragic part of Kelly and Co.’s 31-24 stumble against Vanderbilt. The final score didn’t tell the entire story; LSU was out-coached on both sides of the ball and was hardly shocking. However, what was surprising was that the Commodores were not exactly in a position to take top-10 wins for granted. 

In return, Kelly’s boys gifted them an easy chase as they did not experience a field rush. Not only this, but they suffered a terrible 24-19 loss against a low-ranked opponent, Ole Miss. This situation makes fans point fingers at Kelly’s risky bet of spending $20 million on the roster. Now, the Tigers stand on quicksand as power programs like Texas A&M and Alabama are left on their schedule.

Just when Kelly might have thought of saving his team this weekend, LSU might leave its exit door partially open. 

Factors that make Brian Kelly’s seat hotter 

Kelly can no longer leave his program on autopilot mode. After all, he now bears the consequences of his coaching hires. Josh Pate did not mince his words and held Kelly accountable for appointing Joe Sloan as the offensive coordinator. “I think Joe Sloan is the worst offensive coordinator in history. He didn’t hire himself. Is my point, so I really stopped sort of throwing people under the bus when they’re underachieving if we’re not going to acknowledge who put them in the position they’re in,” said Pate.

In that case, Sloan might be a significant factor in Kelly losing his job. Against Vanderbilt, the Tigers’ offense fell flat. Even with their second-highest score of 24, LSU kept settling for field goals. Late in the game, a six-play, 10-yard loss on their final drives sealed their fate, handing Vandy 31 points. Pate thus raised a wake-up for Kelly, “I imagine that Brian Kelly is presented with the fact that his offensive coordinator is not good enough, his offensive product is not good enough, and while his job is not immediately in jeopardy, he needs to make changes, especially if they lose this Saturday.” 

What’s the other factor that comes into play that might rob Kelly of his head coaching role? The head coach is now blamed for playing a significant role in altering the LSU culture. This came straight from the Tigers alum, former LSU center T-Bob Hebert. 

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He said, “The culture at LSU is so broken. It’s so soft. I’ve never seen anything like it. LSU has truly forgotten the face of its father. And the worst part is, I don’t even think you can fire him. $50 million is just too much. So you’re going to have to continue to pay for these things.” Will the LSU Tigers escape the vicious cycle and pull the trigger on Brian Kelly?