Brian Kelly’s New Job Announced One Year After College Football Firing

The 2026 college football season will unlike anything Brian Kelly has experienced in more than two decades.

The former coach spent 22 straight years running college football programs until last November, when everything changed. He went from Central Michigan to Cincinnati to Notre Dame to LSU, building a career that made him the winningest coach in Notre Dame history.

Now, about one year after LSU parted ways with him, Kelly has found his next job, and it has nothing to do with calling plays.

Brian Kelly is joining SiriusXM

SiriusXM announced that Kelly is joining its College Sports Radio channel this season, co-hosting a weekly show alongside Danny Kanell and Roy Philpott. The show launches Sept. 1, with new episodes airing every Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. ET throughout the college football season. Kanell and Philpott already host a daily show for the channel every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. ET, and Kelly's addition slots into that Wednesday window.

Kelly explained the appeal of the new gig in the SiriusXM press release. "I'm excited to bring what I've learned in my many years on the sidelines into the studio with the outstanding team at SiriusXM," Kelly said.

How will @LSUfootball perform in its first season under Lane Kiffin?@CoachBrianKelly gives his game-by-game predictions for the Tigers 👀 pic.twitter.com/dEnRxiLZSu
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) August 10, 2026

"Danny and Roy are two pros with great energy and a passion for the game that I share. I look forward to partnering with them every week to give fans an insider's view of today's game and the teams and players we're watching every week."

The radio show is not Kelly's only new stop this season. He is also working with CBS Sports, making his game analyst debut this Saturday for CBS Sports Network's coverage of Jacksonville State and North Dakota State, while also serving as a studio analyst on Inside College Football.

Brian Kelly's fallout from LSU still lingers

Former LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly looks on as the South Carolina Gamecocks play during the first half at Tiger Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This is the first season in 22 years that Kelly will not start the year as a college football head coach. LSU fired him last November following a 49-25 loss to Texas A&M, an unceremonious end to what had been a disappointing run for the coach. LSU went 34-14 under Kelly across four seasons, including a 3-0 mark in bowl games, but the Tigers never finished a season ranked higher than 18th nationally.

Kelly's attorneys filed a legal claim stating LSU had not formally terminated him and was instead attempting to fire him for cause, which would have allowed the school to avoid paying his full buyout. LSU eventually agreed to pay Kelly the full amount, estimated between $53 million and $54 million, with university president Wade Rousse confirming in a letter that Kelly had been fired without cause.

That buyout comes with strings attached. Kelly's contract requires him to make a good faith, reasonable and sustained effort to obtain qualified employment for as long as the liquidated damages are owed to him, which stretches out over the next several years.

Taking jobs with CBS Sports and SiriusXM checks that box while Kelly figures out his next move. Whether these media stops turn into a longer second act or simply bridge the gap to his next sideline job remains to be seen.

Add us as a preferred source on Google