LSU Football Icon Andrew Whitworth Reacts to Brian Kelly's Firing, Issues He Saw

Whitworth remains one of the faces of the LSU brand, dove into issues he saw during the "Kelly Era" in Baton Rouge.

Tigers Head Coach Brian Kelly, LSU Tigers take on the Texas A&M Aggies. October 25, 2025; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; at Tiger Stadium. Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. | SCOTT CLAUSE / USATODAY Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The LSU Tigers joined the list of program's in need of a head coach on Sunday night after electing to part ways with Brian Kelly amid a 5-3 start in Baton Rouge.

After less than four seasons as the shot-caller of the Bayou Bengals, Kelly departs with a 34-14 record while the program was unable to get over the hump and reach the College Football Playoff.

Now, social media is swirling with current and former LSU Tigers speaking out about the "Kelly Era" with Andrew Whitworth joining the party this week.

Whitworth, who suited up under Nick Saban and helped lead the Tigers to a National Championship victory in 2003, says he doesn’t know Kelly, but personally felt that he wasn't interested in former players helping to assist the program.

“If you look across college football, some of the coaches we see being featured all the time from the energy they bring and who they are in the locker room, it sticks out like a sore thumb who the guys are who are like, ‘Man, I’d love to play for that guy.’ To your point, I don’t know Brian Kelly at all either,” Whitworth said on the Fitz & Whit podcast.

“But what I do know is I’ve reached out multiple times to like, ‘Hey, man, if there’s anything I can do to mentor, to help, just be there for you, if there’s a conversation that we can have behind the scenes, I don’t need anybody to know about it, but love to help you.'

"And gotten lots of like, ‘Oh that’s great, I’ll keep that in mind,’ type stuff. So it doesn’t seem like an interest level there.”

Whitworth also said, “I don’t know anyone that shares the side of, ‘Hey, y’all, yeah, this dude, his impact, his energy, all those things,’ I haven’t heard a single story.

"In fact, I’ve only heard really stories to the other side of it. You’ve even seen some current players who just played for him coming out and saying one of the worst experiences they’ve ever had as far as a human being and the leader that he was.”

Courtesy of LSU Tigers Football.

As the coaching carousel heats up, the LSU Tigers sit with what many analysts are calling the "No. 1 available job" with Kelly out as the shot-caller of the program.

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