$1.8 million NFL coach emerges as candidate to replace Brian Kelly at LSU

LSU head coach Brian Kelly runs off the field before a college football game between Ole Miss and LSU at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi. | Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

A new wrinkle entered LSU’s coaching search on Friday as prediction market Kalshi put Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady behind Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin but ahead of several college candidates.

Kalshi listed Kiffin with around a 74% chance of landing the LSU job, and Brady at about 10%, signaling a non-zero chance the Tigers could chase an NFL play-caller with prior ties to Baton Rouge.

Brady served as LSU’s passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach on the 2019 staff that produced Joe Burrow’s Heisman Trophy season and a national championship.

That run also earned Brady the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant.

After a brief stint in the NFL and a stop as the Carolina Panthers’ offensive coordinator, Brady landed in Buffalo in 2022 and rose from quarterbacks coach to interim offensive coordinator late in 2023 before being named full-time offensive coordinator.

Now, Brady is among the NFL's highest-paid coordinators, earning around $1.8 million.

What Brady has done in Buffalo is the immediate case for his name surfacing in Baton Rouge.

Last year, his "Everybody Eats" offensive philosophy helped the Bills become just the ninth team in NFL history to finish a season with 13 different players catching a touchdown.

Brady was also the architect behind a Bills offense that saw Josh Allen win his first career NFL MVP. 

Through the 2025 season so far, the Bills sit among the league’s better offenses (381.8 yards per game; 28.3 points per game) and are 7-4 entering Week 13.

Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady on the field before a game against the New York Giants at Highmark Stadium. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

The vacancy at LSU opened when the program parted ways with Brian Kelly in late October after an uneven run that fell short of the program’s championship expectations.

That departure triggered a wide, messy coaching search with power-five names — Lane Kiffin, Eli Drinkwitz, Jon Sumrall among them — who repeatedly surfaced in media and markets. 

Kiffin has been the strongest favorite in many markets, but Brady’s appearance near the top of Kalshi’s list is notable because it reflects a willingness among bettors to entertain an NFL-to-college hire with LSU ties.

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