Brian Kelly was fired from the LSU football head coaching position on Nov. 26, 2025, after four underwhelming seasons. LSU now has to pay his $53.3 million buyout.

The firing came the day after LSU’s home loss to Texas A&M and despite the fact that LSU had many big games left on the schedule.

During Kelly’s tenure at LSU, he went 34-14 overall, including 19-10 against SEC opponents and 5-10 against AP Top 25-ranked teams.

Interestingly, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said that former LSU Athletic Director Scott Woodward would not be involved in selecting the next LSU football head coach. He mentioned this because Woodward is responsible for hiring the two head coaches with the two largest college football buyouts ever: Jimbo Fisher and Brian Kelly. Landry even said he would rather have President Donald Trump select the next head coach than Woodward.

Scott Woodward and LSU parted ways the day after Landry made that statement.

LSU also fired Offensive Coordinator Joe Sloan the day after Kelly was fired, likely due to LSU’s poor offensive performances against average SEC teams and out-of-conference teams

Saint Paul’s junior Hunter Bentley believes that LSU made the right decision in firing Brian Kelly.

“I think they were keeping him around longer to see if he could do anything with this good roster. Looking back at last year, like the Alabama game where they lost in a blowout at home, they lost to a struggling Florida team, and that they finished the season unranked, shows why he definitely should’ve been fired sooner,” Bentley said.

These firings reflect the high expectations LSU has for its football program. LSU doesn’t settle for average seasons, or even “good” seasons by many standards; the stakes are higher in Baton Rouge.

Kelly is the first LSU head coach to not win a national championship since Gerry DiNardo in 1999. It does not help that Kelly’s tragedy was trending downward; LSU had a worse season in each year of Kelly’s tenure at LSU.

Associate head coach and running backs coach Frank Wilson was announced to serve as LSU’s interim head coach to close out the underwhelming season. Wilson served as the head coach at the University of Texas at San Antonio and McNeese State University.

Wilson went 2-3 to close out the season, including a Texas Bowl Game loss to Houston on Dec. 27, 2025. However, none of that really mattered to LSU fans; what was important was finding the right new head coach.

On November 30, LSU made a splash by hiring Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin to be its new head football coach.

Kiffin signed a seven-year, $93 million contract with LSU.

Saint Paul’s junior Jake Bergeron is among many LSU fans who are ecstatic about the Kiffin hiring. “I think that this is the best move that LSU could’ve made for their head coach because of how well Kiffin did at Ole Miss with turning them into a national title contender,” Bergeron said.

Kiffin left Ole Miss right after they completed an 11-1 regular season finish while being ranked #7 in the AP poll. Ole Miss is still competing for a National Championship, but Kiffin is no longer with the team, to Kiffin’s dismay.

According to Kiffin, Ole Miss would not allow him to coach during the College Football Playoffs if he accepted the LSU head coaching job.

“We went through a lot last night with [Athletic Director] Keith Carter trying to figure out a way to make this playoff run work and be able to coach the team. And at the end of the day, that’s his decision, and I totally respect that. … I wish that I was coaching…. I just hope they play really well and go win the national championship,” Kiffin said.

Kiffin formerly served as the offensive coordinator at Alabama and the head coach at USC, Tennessee, and Ole Miss.

Lane Kiffin has decided to bring in his offensive coordinator from Ole Miss, Charlie Weis Jr., to fill the vacancy created when LSU fired OC Joe Sloan and HC Brian Kelly.

Kiffin allowed some members of the Ole Miss staff who are joining him at LSU to coach through the playoffs for Ole Miss, including Weis Jr.

While many LSU football fans rejoice when LSU made this hire, the rest of the college football world seems to be upset that Lane Kiffin would leave his team right before the playoffs to go rebuild one of their biggest rivals.

Regardless, many Tiger fans are happy that LSU landed the biggest fish in the head coaching market, despite the crazy cost.

LSU has made it clear that average seasons aren’t acceptable in Baton Rouge. Now it’s Lane Kiffin’s program, and Tiger fans will be watching closely to see whether he can bring LSU back to the standard they expect, which is competing for national championships.

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Featured Image Photo Credit: Nick Schultz