Former Notre Dame HC Brian Kelly now locked into a legal dispute with the LSU Tigers following his dismissal by the program
Former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly can’t stay out of the news.
It has been quite the last few weeks for former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly. In what turned out to be a make-or-break season for the LSU Tigers, Kelly was fired following the team’s 49 to 25 home loss to the Texas A&M Aggies on October 25th. That ended Kelly’s tenure in Baton Rouge after leading the program to a 34-14 overall record. His inconsistencies in big games, hiring coaches, and recruiting all came to the surface during those three-plus seasons, things that the Fighting Irish fanbase knows all too well.
After the firing was announced, most expected Kelly to just fade off into the sunset a bit and find the closest golf course for him to deal with the sadness. Even with us being a couple of weeks removed from the move, the Kelly-LSU drama appears to be just beginning. It was reported this week that there have been some disagreements about the buyout money for Kelly. That disagreement appears to be reaching a legal level, and it will be interesting to see what happens next.
With $53 million due to Kelly for his buyout, LSU has attempted two separate settlements for lesser money, $25 million and $30 million, respectively. If Kelly were able to be awarded the full initial number, that would make it the second-largest head coaching buyout in college football history. The largest was from Texas A&M to Jimbo Fisher, which ended up being a whopping $77 million.
To Kelly’s defense, the two attempts at settlements were numbers well below what his contract stated. The Tigers, however, are claiming that Kelly was fired with cause and that he shouldn’t be owed the entirety of the buyout number. Kelly’s lawyers have already sued LSU with the intent of getting the full number, meaning that this story isn’t going away anytime soon.
Brian Kelly’s legacy
From the Notre Dame side, the fanbase has to feel great that they don’t have to deal with any of this drama from Kelly anymore. Most will admit that Kelly is a good coach, and his record and track record do prove that. He is, however, a person who has continuously rubbed people the wrong way, both in South Bend and now in Baton Rouge. It wasn’t the cleanest breakup after he left following the 2021 season, but it has turned out for the absolute best.
Head coach Marcus Freeman has now built a culture we haven’t seen at Notre Dame in quite some time. Even when there is a setback or a letdown, you never feel like this program is trending downward. Freeman is a morally sound man built on doing things the right way, treating people well, and developing at a high level. As the Kelly drama continues, it is a good reminder about how fortunate Fighting Irish fans are right now.
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