'Last chance' situation for Brian Kelly at LSU, analyst warns

Any list of college football coaches under pressure heading into the 2025 season could include Brian Kelly, who won fewer than 10 games for the first time in his tenure at LSU.

Kelly won 10 games in each of his first two seasons on the Bayou and placed first and second, respectively, in the division, but went 9-4 this past fall and placed outside the national rankings.

247Sports analyst Bud Elliott doesn’t foresee LSU dumping Kelly at this stage, but his tenure isn’t heading in exactly the right direction as things stand right now.

“I don’t really think they’re going to fire Brian Kelly, but if they don’t have a good season again, I could certainly see the argument for it, right?” Elliott said on the 247Sports Ultimate College Football Show.

“They wasted two years of [Jayden] Daniels. You wasted a year of [Garrett] Nussmeier, who if he had gone pro, had certainly been a top 100 pick, if not maybe a second- or maybe even a first-round type pick. So you get him back, this is kind of the last chance.”

A program of LSU’s stature expects to be in contention for the College Football Playoff every season, especially since the expansion of the format to 12 teams.

But the Tigers lost their season opener against USC, which finished 7-6, and endured a three-game losing streak late in the year, including against unranked Florida.

And while Nussmeier commanded one of the nation’s more-productive passing offenses, Blake Baker’s defense still wanted for results, ranking 61st nationally in output and 59th in scoring.

Nussmeier announced his return for the 2025 season, giving Kelly a vital piece of continuity on the offense, but one major recruiting development threw a wrench into the program’s offseason momentum.

The sudden decision by five-star, No. 1 ranked quarterback Bryce Underwood to back out of his commitment to LSU and flip to Michigan was an unwelcome moment for Kelly’s reputation as a recruiter.

“I don’t really love what they have in their quarterback room,” Elliott said. “Obviously, their recruiting class fell apart a bit, so they had a bunch of extra money left over, and were like, ‘Huh, maybe we should spend it on the transfer portal.’

“And indeed they finally did. I think they should have done it last year, but I guess better late than never. If Brian Kelly doesn’t make the playoff, I do think you’ll probably see some rumblings of like, ‘Hey what are we doing here?’ And he’s really not doing better than Notre Dame is, certainly.”

Kelly’s effort to return LSU to national relevance begins on Aug. 30 at Clemson.

(247)

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