It’s time for LSU fans to finally admit that the Irish fanbase was right all along about Brian Kelly and his self-created ceiling
Notre Dame fans deserve an apology.
In the last few seasons, there has been a rift created between the Notre Dame and LSU football fan bases. Those are two extremely proud programs historically, and there seemed to be, at least for the most part, always been some level of mutual respect between the two.
That changed prior to the 2021 season when former Irish head coach Brian Kelly traded in the blue and gold to head down to Baton Rouge.
At the time, LSU fans convinced themselves that Notre Dame fans were jealous. They believed the optics of the “ex-girlfriend leaving for someone better” type of deal, but that wasn’t even close to the reality for the Fighting Irish supporters. For the most part, the fanbase was thrilled with the decision for Kelly to leave. While most can agree Kelly is a good coach, the self-created ceiling and off-putting personality had long worn out its welcome in South Bend.
The shade being thrown from the Irish fans was strictly for Kelly. LSU fans were just sticking up for their head coach, even though it wasn’t meant to be personal.
Hearing Kelly spout off about a better opportunity to win a championship after he left was understandably frustrating for Notre Dame fans. For years, they had been conditioned to accept good but never expect greatness. While the Irish program continued to put out some legitimate NFL talent, it would continue to fall short in the bigger games. Clearly, this was an issue of lack of support from Notre Dame, or at least that’s what Kelly would tell you, or anyone who would listen.
It’s just easier to recruit at LSU. If Ed Orgeron and Les Miles could win a championship in Baton Rouge, then so could Kelly. Those were things that got brought up a lot. It just means more in the SEC. It was all about the nauseating cliches, baseless claims, and attempted justifications for why Kelly continuously fell short.
Now in year four of the Kelly tenure with the Tigers, LSU fans are slowly starting to understand the self-created ceiling that follows their head coach. The floor has unquestionably risen under Kelly in the 47 games that he’s coached, but the ceiling remains the same. At some point, LSU fans need to accept the truth – the Notre Dame fanbase was right.
Most people are beginning to come around. Barring some massive turnaround from the head man, a championship is not in LSU’s immediate future.
The Marcus Freeman ascension
While Kelly constantly searched for an excuse as Notre Dame’s head coach, needing to “coach better” and subtly passing blame to the players, head coach Marcus Freeman has been resetting the standard. Irish fans and supporters are no longer fed the long line of excuses. For the first time in quite some time, there is a head coach who takes accountability for everything the program needs to improve.
We have also already seen the big-game blunders under Kelly remedied under Freeman. During his 12 years with the team, Kelly went 35-37 against top-25 ranked teams, 4-11 against top-10 teams, and 1-17 against top-5 teams. The reality that Notre Dame fans lived in was that Kelly would also beat the teams he should, but never beat a team that was at or on a higher level talent-wise.
Despite being in the exact same situation, Freeman has already managed to fix their issues in those big games. Freeman carries an 8-4 record against top-10 teams through three and a half years, having twice as many wins as Kelly did in a third of the time. He has also gone 3-2 against top-10 teams, three times as many victories as Kelly in way fewer attempts. Freeman also holds a 14-5 record against top-25 teams while leading the Fighting Irish.
Even when things aren’t perfect with this Notre Dame program, you always feel like Freeman will find a fix. There doesn’t appear to be a ceiling on this program right now, and especially not one that the head coach has created themselves.
Kelly’s shortcomings in those big games have only continued with LSU, currently holding a 5-10 record against top-25 opponents. Add in the fact that Freeman is recruiting at a higher level, and he’s just genuinely a more appealing personality, Notre Dame fans couldn’t be happier with the change.
It’s been a long time since this program has felt like it could win any game it plays in, but the stench of the Kelly era is slowly fading.
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks
Heading into the 2025 college football season, there was a lot of optimism around the LSU program. After an underwhelming 2024 season, the program made the decision to be more aggressive in the transfer portal. LSU spent a lot of money on the likes of Barion Brown, Nic Anderson, Patrick Payton, Jack Pyburn, Braelin Moore, and Mansoor Delane, among many others.
Yet, the results are largely the same.
Through seven games of the 2025 season, LSU now sits at 5-2 after this past weekend’s 31 to 24 loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores. A team with championship hopes and a big checkbook has already lost to two teams with far less resources, and in Vanderbilt’s case, an underdog that won on Saturday because they were much better coached and tougher. With games against Texas A&M, Alabama, and Oklahoma remaining, the losing isn’t done yet either.
With every loss, you are starting to hear more and more parts of the LSU fanbase get louder. As one of the better programs in college football, they deserve better. Let’s just hope that they learn the lessons of Kelly quicker than some Notre Dame fans did. Kelly has a habit of dulling expectations and creating pessimism throughout fan bases. Irish fans know that firsthand.
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