Brian Kelly on the hot seat at LSU following yet another loss in a big game against Alabama
Saturday night's loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide is inexcusable for the LSU Tigers. It wasn't just a loss at home in a night game where the Tigers had won 15 consecutive games in a row nor was it a loss to arguably their biggest rival in Alabama who has now won 12 of the […]
Saturday night's loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide is inexcusable for the LSU Tigers.
It wasn't just a loss at home in a night game where the Tigers had won 15 consecutive games in a row nor was it a loss to arguably their biggest rival in Alabama who has now won 12 of the last 14 against LSU.
It was a loss that essentially knocks the Tigers out of the race to make the College Football Playoff. It's also another loss in a big game by head coach Brian Kelly.
Kelly has a history of not performing well in big games. Going into the season, his teams were 34-34 in games against a top 25 opponent and this year, the Tigers are 1-3 with their only win over Ole Miss in overtime.
In his three years in Baton Rouge, Kelly is 26-10 but all of his losses came in big games.
- 2022: 24-23 vs. Florida State, 40-13 vs. Tennessee, 38-23 @ Texas A&M, 50-30 vs. Georgia (SEC Title Game)
- 2023: 45-24 vs. Florida State (in Orlando), 55-49 @ Ole Miss, 42-28 @ Alabama
- 2024: 27-20 vs. USC (in Las Vegas), 38-23 @ Texas A&M, 42-13 vs. Alabama
There is something to be said about winning the games you should, but this is LSU. That's the baseline. You are hired to win the big games. That is something that Kelly has only done arguably three times.
- 2022: 45-20 vs. Ole Miss, 32-31 vs. Alabama
- 2023: None
- 2024: 29-26 vs. Ole Miss
Every head coach of the Tigers has won a National Championship since Nick Saban was hired in 2000. Three years into Kelly's regime, all he has to show for it is one win over Alabama and a Heisman Trophy for Jayden Daniels. That isn't going to cut it.
Kelly is arguably on the hot seat right now and if he can't right the ship to end the season with games at Florida and at home against both Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. If he loses any of those games, it could very well seal his fate.
At LSU, you can't have this poor of a record and "hope" to make the College Football Playoff. The expectation is SEC and National Championships, something Kelly has only dreamed about.
