Brian Kelly Reportedly Set to Leave Notre Dame for LSU Head Coaching Job
Brian Kelly Reportedly Set to Leave Notre Dame for LSU Head Coaching Job
It always felt like the LSU head coaching vacancy was playing second fiddle to the opening at USC. Then, USC made a splash hiring by luring Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma and people really started to forget about the LSU head coaching search.
But, on Monday night, LSU pulled a rabbit out of its own hat, reportedly agreeing with Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly to become the next head coach at LSU after 12 years in South Bend, according to Yahoo’s Pete Thamel.
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Brian Kelly Rumored to Have Accepted LSU Head Coaching Job
If Riley was considered a massive surprise in the college football world, Kelly leaving Notre Dame for LSU is an even greater shock. Not many had envisioned Kelly leaving Notre Dame, especially with the team still in the hunt to make this season’s College Football Playoff.
But, it does appear as if the deal will be officially announced on Tuesday morning, despite the fact that Notre Dame is still very much a factor in how this season’s college football landscape unfolds.
Kelly has been the head coach at Notre Dame since 2010, posting a 92-39 overall record. He’s also taken his team to two separate College Football Playoff appearances, although they lost both.
Notre Dame’s lack of conference affiliation has been a perceived hurdle for Kelly and the Irish in the past, with the CFP committee saying teams without a conference title would need to make themselves clearly better than a team that had won its conference crown.
At LSU, Brian Kelly will have no such issue. Kelly take his talents to the SEC, where he’ll face the likes of Nick Saban, Lane Kiffin, Jimbo Fisher and Kirby Smart every year. No more handpicking opponents and beating up on service academies every other week for Kelly.
How will Kelly fit in at LSU? That remains to be seen, but it seems as though the SEC just got another top-tier head coach to make things even more interesting every season down South.