LSU shocked the college football world with the firing of Brian Kelly on Sunday, Oct. 26.
Kelly was ousted following a 49-25 drubbing to Texas A&M at home, which saw Tigers fans demand the firing of their fourth-year coach. Kelly was booed off the field by what remained of the LSU fans in the stands at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
While the timing of the firing caught much of the college football world off guard, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum said it’s not surprising Kelly was ousted during a segment of ESPN’s ‘Get Up,’ on Monday, Oct. 27.
‘Not only did they lose on the field, he lost in the locker room. I don’t think he had anybody who believed in him anymore,’ Finebaum said. ‘And he certainly didn’t have anyone in the stands believing him because they were all gone by the end of the game. But the most important person who didn’t believe in him, interestingly, wasn’t his boss, but it was the governor of the state of Louisiana, who managed to get in the middle of this because they have an interim president.
‘They had a meeting yesterday, the group of them decided Kelly had to go. $54 million is a lot of money. Interestingly … Scott Woodward, who hired Kelly and allowed him to have that $54 million buyout, also hired Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M, who got a $76 million buyout.’
Kelly was the 10th FBS coach fired since the beginning of the 2025 college football season and the seventh from a Power Four Program. With the loss to the Aggies on Saturday, LSU fell to 5-3 and 2-3 in SEC play this season, all but eliminating the Tigers from College Football Playoff contention. Kelly has a 34-14 record in his four seasons with LSU, including a 19-10 record in the SEC.
Finebaum already named the first name on LSU’s wish list following Kelly’s firing.
‘There’s no doubt Lane Kiffin will be at the top of the list and I know that sounds familiar; he’s at the top of the Florida list, and anybody else’s list, but that’s who he is,’ Finebaum said. ‘He’s a charismatic coach, he’s colorful and he’s also an offensive genius as we saw Saturday in Norman when Ole Miss beat Oklahoma in a mild upset.
‘Will Kiffin leave is the question. His team is just about already stamped a playoff bid, that would be the question as we get closer to the end of the season.’