'This fanbase is done' with Brian Kelly if LSU misses College Football Playoff again

Time may be running out on Brian Kelly if he's unable to get LSU into the College Football Playoff, a former Tigers football great has warned.

Brian Kelly needs to get LSU into the College Football Playoff before fans turn on him, Marcus Spears has said. | John David Mercer-Imagn Images

The heat is on Brian Kelly to turn the corner and get LSU into the College Football Playoff before the Tigers’ passionate fan base turns on him for good.

That’s the opinion of former LSU football great Marcus Spears, who believes the clock is running out on Kelly as he heads into his fourth year on the sideline.

“LSU is in that window now, where if you don’t win big, if you’re Brian Kelly, this fan base is done,” Spears said on ESPN.

“And I’m just telling you, the wins and the success and all of the things, going to the SEC Championship your first year was great, but people still didn’t feel like that was a big time accomplishment based on how it happened.”

Spears added: “This year, you see all of the transfers, you see the recruiting class, Garrett Nussmeier in the preseason Heisman conversation, all of those things in the past at LSU have aligned with them having big seasons.”

LSU looks poised for a run

It’s true that LSU appears to be in an ideal situation to make a run at the SEC championship and at what would be Kelly’s first College Football Playoff appearance with the school.

Garrett Nussmeier returns at the helm of what was college football’s seventh-ranked passing offense from a year ago, throwing for 4,052 yards and scoring 29 touchdowns.

Wide receiver should be a position of strength for the offense again, with leading target Aaron Anderson returning to the rotation alongside noted incoming transfers like Barion Brown and Nic Anderson.

Harold Perkins and Whit Weeks are back to man the middle of a defense that added blue-chip edge rushers Patrick Payton and Jack Pyburn in the transfer portal.

With this much combined talent on the field, it’s getting hard to justify LSU not being considered one of the dozen best teams in the country.

Brian Kelly under huge pressure in 2025

“It doesn’t guarantee a championship, but it should guarantee you being a playoff contender,” Spears added.

“And if they’re not, if they are on the outside looking in at the playoffs, this fan base is going to quickly turn on Brian Kelly.”

One thing Kelly has not done at LSU yet is win the first game of a football season, losing to Florida State in consecutive openers and against USC in the Tigers’ 2024 debut.

That task remains hard, as LSU opens up on the road against presumptive ACC title favorite Clemson in one of college football’s more intimidating road environs.

“It’s almost like there’s been situations where they’ve been waiting to do it,” Spears said.

“This would be that inflection point if LSU doesn’t win big this year. [I’m telling] y’all what I know, not what I think.”

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