By Hunt Palmer
Brian Kelly’s spring is booked.
The former LSU head coach was fired in October but plans to visit various spring football practices over the next month to stay in touch with the game. Will he coach again? That decision hasn’t been made, but he’s keeping the door open.
“Look, I’ve got four former assistant coaches that are head football coaches in the NFL,” Kelly said on Dusty & Danny on Sirius XM Radio. “I’ve got four Power Four assistant coaches that we’re close to. I want to get around and see their program, see how they’re doing, get a sense of where I can grow and I can be better. And so, that’s really my focus right now. And then if the right situation comes about and I’m ready, I’m certainly going to entertain that.”
LSU would welcome that.
The school is on the hook to pay Kelly more than $800,000 every month through 2031 according to his contract. Any money Kelly makes as a coach or commentator would offset that amount as the school pays Lane Kiffin $13 million annually and a roster full of well-compensated players.
The price tag on it all is massive. Kelly recognizes that.
“College football is not in a bad place,” Kelly said. “The revenue is ridiculous. I don’t even know how LSU is doing it. They’re playing Lane Kiffin whatever. They’re paying me. That’s crazy. That shouldn’t happen. But it is because the money is out there. The problems are real, but college football is still in a pretty good place.”
When he took the LSU Job, NIL and revenue sharing weren’t a consideration. The former was less than six months old, and the latter was four years from reality. The entirety of Kelly’s run at LSU came under something of an experimental phase of collegiate athletics.
Kelly tried. He spent $1 million of his own money to spur on donations to the school’s collective and worked the transfer portal as hard as anyone entering the 2025 season.
Now LSU hopes Kelly’s experience didn’t sour him on the sport as a whole. His comments would indicate he’s open to a return.
“I don’t know that I’ve made the decision that I want to get back in, as all the things we’ve talked about, I’d want to see some changes,” Kelly said. “But I think while you wait, you need to work. And so, I need to stay in the game. My first order of business is this next two, three weeks, I’m going to be visiting some places to see spring ball, get a chance to see some things relative to the football side, the operational side, some of the things we talked about today with NIL, transfer and calendar, and get a temperature in the spring for some things.”
LSU is footing the bill for a football roster worth more than $40 million in addition to funding sports like men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and others. Any relief they could get from Kelly finding employment would be welcome.
At 64-years-old, Kelly may not top many hot boards. He has won at a 73 percent clip in his career and never truly bottomed out at LSU. He was 19-10 in SEC games.
More realistically, Kelly could land a television deal. He’s well-spoken and just months removed from the game. His insights and intelligence would play on TV much like Nick Saban, Urban Meyer and others.
Those deals can net seven figures. LSU would happily take it.
Men’s basketball may need an influx of cash, and the $40-plus million football roster is going to turn over in January. That bill is always due these days.
At least Kelly is making an effort. That much is in his contract. Where he lands remains to be seen, but any money Kelly makes will lighten the load on LSU.
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