Moving into the 2025 season, Brian Kelly will be facing himself in the mirror. After all, the LSU Tigers head coach once said, “Judge me after three years into the program.” Not to forget, Kelly is yet to achieve what he has been looking for. He jumped out of Notre Dame since he saw better chances at LSU to build a championship-calibre team. But he is yet to add a Natty feather to his name at LSU. However, for a change, someone took a break from pointing fingers at Kelly. That’s none other than the 2X Super Bowl Winner, Booger McFarland.

He puts Kelly’s assistant coach, offensive coordinator Joe Sloan, in the hot seat to get judged. When it comes to the Tigers’ offense, they ranked at No.47 in 2024, averaging 315.2 yards. Here comes a sharp message for Sloan from McFarland.

On the August 27 episode of the Always College Football with Greg McElroy podcast, the Super Bowl winner came up with a detailed critique of Kelly’s staff’s play-calling philosophy. “At some point, I think if you’re Joe Sloan, the OC, you’ve got to show a willingness to run the football. Because if I’m a defensive lineman, if I’m Peter Woods, if I’m [T.J.] Parker, and I know that all we’re doing is getting off the rock, rushing the passer, man, you can’t block me because the defensive line, we’re better athletes than the offensive line. And if I know what you’re doing, it’s going to be even harder for you to block me. So, I think to answer your question directly, it has to happen.”

In that case, Kelly’s offense has become one-dimensional. Predictability has been a major concern since defensive linemen like Peter Woods and T.J. Parker can pin their ears back, rush aggressively, and dominate because they don’t have to respect the run. So, what’s the advice he has for Sloan to improve Kelly’s offense? “Has to show a willingness to run the football. I don’t mean run it on third and one, like everybody. Third and one, you’re going to run the football. I mean, when it’s second and eight, are you going to run the football and try to get four to make it third and four?” said McFarland.

Following the convenient path won’t work for Kelly’s squad. He wants LSU to use the run on non-obvious downs, like 2nd-and-8, to gain moderate yardage and create manageable 3rd-down situations. On early downs, a run can set the tone and keep defenses honest. He’s challenging LSU to do that consistently. Time for a bitter pill to swallow. They had a “prolific” offense, where four players got drafted. Even then, it made the position look “soft.” While McFarnald got blunt with Sloan, did he feel the same about Kelly losing his head coaching seat after this season?

Super Bowl Winner breaks down Brian Kelly’s hot seat narrative

McFarland has already sounded an alarm for Kelly about negative fan reactions, stating that LSU fans will overreact emotionally if he loses the opener, immediately calling for him to be fired. Already, he has caught side eyes with the “death valley” jab as they gear up for the season opener against Clemson on August 30. Dabo Swinney’s boys are taking Kelly’s boys for granted. As Clemson EDGE T.J. Parker came with a sharp comment after the tussle behind their stadium name.

“They can have their opinion. We’re gonna handle all that on August 30. At the end of the day, we can do all the talking, but we still have to play. So, we’re gonna see, you know what I’m saying? They’re hyping up everybody across the board, all these transfers they got — we’ll see,” said Parker. Kelly is said to be treading carefully, as he is getting chased by a $61,738,333 buyout. But McFarnald sheds light on the reality.

The fact that Kelly has signed a massive 10-year, $100 million contract makes his buyout financially unrealistic. “LSU is not in a position to pay that. So the reality of it is among the people in the no is that yeah, there will be disappointment because it would have been a 0 and 4 starting openers. There’s going to be disappointment based on how the game goes. But as far as the quote-unquote hot take hot seat, I don’t think BK’s on the hot seat,” said the Super Bowl winner. 

At the same time, Brian Kelly has a gut feeling and a confidence burning bright about his roster. It’s time for the head coach to earn trust by showcasing his own brilliance, not by capitalizing on the program’s weaknesses.