October 27, 2025 • 49 mins
LSU football fires head coach Brian Kelly — the former Notre Dame football and Cincinnati coach — and we’re going LIVE with instant reaction, SEC fallout, and the coaching carousel shockwaves. This stream breaks what Kelly’s exit means for LSU Tigers recruiting, NIL, the transfer portal, the AP Top 25, and real College Football Playoff implications. We’ll sort shortlists, buyout realities, interim scenarios, and which big names (and fast-rising coordinators) fit Baton Rouge. Plus: how this move pressures rivals like Alabama football, Georgia Football, Texas A&M, Ole Miss football, and Texas Longhorns, and what it signals for the SEC vs Big Ten power race. George Wrighster delivers no-BS analysis on culture, roster retention, December signing day timing, and why patience (or panic) from boosters can make or break the next three seasons. Drop your LSU football candidate, your grade for the move, and your updated Top 10—receipts welcome.
Chapters:
00:00 — BREAKING: LSU Tigers fire Brian Kelly
00:51 — Why the LSU football job is elite + Kelly’s résumé context
01:46 — Open jobs list + the headline $53M buyout figure
03:53 — Buyout terms, offsets & perks (how the money actually works)
06:15 — Staff didn’t follow from Notre Dame → culture mismatch signs
07:19 — The “accent” moment & optics problem in Baton Rouge
08:28 — Firing S&C legend Tommy Moffitt → alumni fallout
10:27 — Equipment room shake-up (trust gap with players)
12:27 — Governor involvement & a record buyout season
14:29 — Was the firing fair? Early-season results & context
15:15 — Vanderbilt loss & timing before Alabama
17:13 — Is Brian Kelly hireable? Career record snapshot
19:06 — The 2 rules before firing a head coach
20:13 — Who actually wants LSU now? NIL/portal era reality
22:03 — Big-name myths: Saban, Urban, Kiffin, Freeman, Lanning, Joe Brady
26:16 — Realistic targets & “bridge coach” logic (Franklin/Lashley, etc.)
28:07 — Smart shortlist: Fran Brown, Brian Hartline, Glenn Schumann, Bob Chesney
31:17 — Stop “steal-a-coach” thinking + John Summerall talk:
33:03 — Expectations vs buyouts; why this model is unsustainable
47:27 — Domino effects on staffs & recruiting; final take & sign-off
#LSUFootball #BrianKelly #LSU #CollegeFootball #SEC #CoachingCarousel #APTop25 #CFBPlayoff #TransferPortal #NIL #NotreDameFootball #CincinnatiFootball #UnafraidShow #GeorgeWrighster #live
Breaking news out of Baton Rouge, as LSU football has fired Brian Kelly. We examine if the decision to fire Brian Kelly was justified, and what the future holds for the Louisiana State University program. The SEC landscape is shifting, and all eyes are on what's next for the Tigers in college football and cfb.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The news has finally broken. It was clear as day
all day what was gonna happen with LSU. They have
fired Brian Kelly. He is no longer the head coach
of the LSU Tigers, and we gotta talk about it.
We are going to examine everything from whether he should
have been fired, what's next for LSU, Where does LSU
(00:25):
rank amongst all of these head coaching job openings. We
gotta talk about everything from the nitty gritty, and y'all
make sure that y'all hop in the chat because you
know I will always respond and listen to what y'all
gotta say in the chat. So make sure that you
guys like subscribe, get notifications, and tell a friend about
(00:45):
the show because you know it is about to be
on and popping right now. This is one of the
best coaching positions in all of college football. And Brian
Kelly bolted Notre Dame after twelve years at Notre Dame
and people were like, Oh my god, I can't believe
(01:06):
he did this. He's a bigger, better deal guy. He
went down to Notre Dame. He went down to LSU
because LSU is a bigger program, especially at that point,
and point in time, they're in the SEC. They are
recent national champions under Ed Ojeron, and they are a hit.
They've put so many players in the NFL. And Brian
(01:28):
Kelly was of the opinion, if I go down to LSU,
that'll be everything that I need. And in reality, and
he told everybody, judge me in year three and we're
gonna talk about all of it. Make sure that you like, subscribe,
get notifications, and tell a friend about the show. All right. So,
Brian Kelly year four at LSU, twelve years at Notre Dame,
(01:52):
four years at Cincinnati, and three years at Central Michigan.
This is now ignited. What is a crazy college football cycle.
LSU is open, Florida State is open, Penn State, UCLA,
Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Arkansas, Oregon State, UAB, Colorado
(02:14):
State all open right now. And that's before we even
get to Auburn potentially being open. Hugh Freeze got a
stay of execution this weekend. Florida State, same thing, and
right now, before we know all of the details, Brian
Kelly is old fifty three million dollars of buyout money,
(02:37):
and this is going to be the second biggest buyout
in college football history, our mister man over there at
over At Texas A and M Jimbo Fisher he holds
the record at seventy six million dollars. So even if
Brian Kelly agreed to even half of what is old
(02:57):
to him at twenty seven million dollars, because this was
becoming an untenable situation between him and the fans and
the administration and everybody, and they're sitting at five and three.
They're sitting at five and three. This had become such
an untenable situation that he might have said, you know what,
I don't even want to be here no more. Either.
(03:19):
Let's figure out a way to work this out. Now,
I will say, I don't know how many people would
be willing to forego seven hundred thousand dollars a month,
which is what he would be. Oh so, according to
his contract, LSU would have six years remaining on his deal,
(03:44):
six years remaining on Brian Kelly's deal, and they would
owe him fifty three point twenty nine million dollars after
this season, and that buyout, because he makes over ten
million dollars this year, that buyout would drop to you know,
four forty three after twenty six and all this stuff.
But no, no, no, since they fired him, if he
(04:06):
I have no idea why he would not take the
seven hundred and forty one hundred and eighty five thousand
dollars a month until December thirty first, twenty thirty one.
I don't know why he would not take that option. Now,
he does have offset language in his contract to where
if he ends up as the head coach of another
(04:28):
university or any other job, then that takes off. So,
for instance, if somebody hires him at seven million dollars
a year, he's gonna end up with LSU's only going
to have to pay him three million and some change
based upon that. So offset language is good. But listen
(04:48):
to the other perks that this man is losing. As
far as this job one point two million dollars of
an interest free mortgage with relocation costs up to one
point two million dollars relocation costs a one point two
million dollars for his housing, and then the Tigers were
also paying an annual car allowance of two hundred and
(05:10):
seventy five thousand dollars. Well, excuse me, an annual car
allowance and two hundred and seventy five thousand dollars a
year for private air travel and Baton Rouge country club membership.
So that is the deal that he had. But we
got to start talking about where did this go wrong.
(05:32):
I will tell you that Brian Kelly, when he took
the LSU job, he made crucial missteps and everybody should
have seen that this was a bad idea from the beginning. Okay,
so first thing that that happened when he left Notre Dame.
(05:52):
Did anybody pay attention to the fact that only one
coach came with him and Mike din brought their offensive court,
who then turned around and left the following season, and well, yeah,
two seasons later and went back to Notre Dame. Did
anybody pay attention to that when coaches leave? Let's look
(06:12):
at Jed Fish. He left Arizona went up to Washington.
Pretty much the whole coaching staff went with him. That
means that you are well liked and trusted by the
people that you work with. So either one or two
things happened. Either Brian Kelly just left his assistance behind
and was like, I'll go get better ones than these guys.
(06:36):
So either he bigger, better dealed his staff or his
staff was like, we really fooling with you, BK, we
really in this with you like that. So either one
of the two things happened, and either one of them
ain't good. So that was his first mistake was when
(06:59):
he left Notre d and the first sign that something
was wrong when he didn't have a bunch of other
coaches come with him. That's first thing. The second mistake
that he made was when he got up in that
press sorry up at the game and said and use
that fake Cajun accent, Hey, y'all, we we over here
(07:23):
go tige us, trying to sound like a mix of
Midwestern guy meets and oderon and people saw right through
it instantly. So that was the second mistake. Third mistake,
and probably the most crucial mistake that Brian Kelly made
the entire time, is that when he went down to LSU,
(07:48):
one of the first people that he fired was Tommy Moffatt.
He is a legendary strength and conditioning coach who was
part of all three LSU titles this century. And guess
where Tommy Moffitt is right now. He's over in Texas.
A and M who pushed them around and bullied LSU
(08:08):
yesterday yesterday, that's where he is. And then you had
that new strength and conditioning coach because LSU had a
long standing tradition of if you were an NFL player,
if you were a player who went to the league,
then you could use their weight room. Well, their new
(08:30):
strength and conditioning coach. They had a guy who was
a fring NFL player, He was a special teams guy
and all this stuff, but he was in but he
was an NFL player. They kicked him up out of
the weight room. And this is the reason why relationships
started to strain with guys like the Honey Badger, Tyron
(08:51):
Matthew and other people. It was because of things like this,
and so that was a huge mistake because the strength
and conditioning is honestly one of the most important resources
for a head coach. Now, I'm not saying that you
are forced to keep the former strength and conditioning staff,
(09:13):
because I don't think that you should be. However, though,
it is very important to understand that the strength and
conditioning staff are the people who have the end with
the players. They are with the players more than the
coaches are, and they hear them private conversations and they
(09:35):
know what the real temperature in the room is. So
that was the first mistake, firing him without you know,
understanding that this guy was an institution at the university
as opposed to just some fly by night strengthen conditioning coach.
And the second person that he fired, which is crazy,
(09:55):
is Greg Stringfellow, who is aka g String is their
equipment manager. And the equipment manager is another one of
those eyes and ears type of people for a coaching staff,
eyes and ears for the coaching staff. And this was
(10:17):
a bad idea, bad idea because the equipment manager is
just like the strengthen conditioning coach. He knows and his job.
He knows where the storage sheds are, knows where the
uniforms are, knows where all of these things are, and
knows the players intimately. So when you have no connection
(10:42):
from the strength and conditioning staff, from the equipment staff
to the coaches, and you are new in the building
and you're bringing in all new coaches because you didn't
bring your guys with you. You are going to be
at a and you're in a new place, new environment,
everything else, you are setting yourself up for disaster, which
(11:04):
is exactly what Brian Kelly did. Misstep after misstep. Those
were the three biggest things that he did to put
himself in the situation right now. So and when you
are not well liked, when in life, people will put
up with somebody that they deem to be an asshole
(11:26):
when they believe that that you're winning, that the replacement
value of you is low, that they can't go find
another you. It's just like when players get in trouble,
if they get arrested, they get you know, they mouthed
off to the coach, they do all of this stuff,
(11:47):
they're late for meetings. They don't fire them if they're great,
but the but the minute that the problems outweigh their
addition and their value, they get rid of them. And
that's exactly what happened that here at LSU. This fifty
potentially fifty three million dollar buyout is a lot. And
(12:08):
this is a situation where where they had to go
to the governor to talk about this. So people missed
a little bit of the reporting that Ross Dellinger said. LSU,
their officials they went to go talk to the governor.
Brian Kelly's the highest paid state employee and LSU this
(12:32):
was not going to be a privately funded firing where
if you are at Cody, if you're at Texas Tech
and you want to fire a coach, you gotta talk
to Cody Campbell. You ain't got to talk to the governor.
You want to fire somebody at Oregon, you gotta go
talk to Phil Knight. You don't have to go talk
to the governor of Oregon. You have to go talk
(12:53):
to who is writing the check. So this appears to
be that the state of Louisiana's writing the check. So
this is crazy. And now FBS schools have already committed
to spend more than one hundred and forty million dollars
on fired coaches. And that's if Brian Kelly agreed to
(13:15):
half of what he's own. If he didn't, we over
one hundred and sixty This is the most in the
history of college athletics, which would the most have ever
been paid is one hundred and thirty two million dollars
in buyouts in twenty twenty three. The season ain't even
(13:35):
over yet. We still got Auburn and Florida State who
might be open as well. This is wild. So so
now you think about who is going to be who
is going to be the next head coach at LSU. Actually,
first of all, was this fair because LSU is five
(13:59):
and three right now. Now. They beat Clemson to start
the season, and remember I came on here and I
told everybody at the beginning of the season. Once they
beat LSU, Brian Kelly put way too much emphasis on that.
On that win, he came out and he told everybody.
He was like, oh man, oh that was a that
(14:19):
was a great win. And remember he actually criticized uh
Dabo Sweeney at Clemson because Dabo Sweeney said, well, we
got a D. I'm sorry that LSU played a D game.
We played the F game and he was like, I
don't know what that D was. And you're like, hold up,
when you watch the film, Clemson was awful in the game,
(14:42):
got awful and LSU's offense was atrocious in the game.
And then we find out that Clemson ain't that good
this season. And then they got a struggle bus win
over Florida with and then they lost to Ole Miss
and people were like, Okay, this is weird, but you
(15:02):
know what, still potentially a playoff team South Carolina struggle
bus with South Carolina only scored twenty points this is weird.
Garrett nussmar four thousand yards last year this year on
pace for twenty eight hundred something, ain't right. Then you
lose to Vanderbilt. Then you get absolutely boat raced in
a night game where you are supposed to have the
(15:24):
ultimate advantage playing at home and Death Valley, that is
supposed to be the greatest advantage in college football according
to some people. And then you find out so so yeah,
so that is crazy. And mind you, they fired him
before they go play at Alabama. They were just like,
(15:46):
we're sick of it. And this is why it matters
whether people like you or not. Because Brian Kelly was
up in Stafford's faces offensive coordinator face, called good plays.
And this this when you b rape p when you
treat people like Brian Kelly has treated people, when you
do things like the kids falling off the this scaffolding
(16:08):
at Notre Dame, and you react how you did when
the when when the kid ended up getting sick and
had the brain situation at LSU and the family is like,
he ain't really coming to come see us, he ain't
really checking in on him. That ain't good. That is
not good. It is never going to go overwell, because
(16:31):
when you start falling, when you climb over everybody and
you're not you're too busy for them, you're too good
for them, and you treat them crazy on the way down.
They they will move out of the way and let
you fall. They will not catch you. They will not
break your fault. And that's exactly what happened to Brian Kelly.
Nobody was going to break his fall in this situation.
(16:53):
They weren't. They were like, hey, sorry, bro, if he dies,
he dies the rocky rocky style. And he's a coach
that uses this CEO model, Like he's not an offensive coordinator,
he's not a defensive coordinator. He is the CEO model
head coach. Now, the next question is is he hireable?
(17:16):
Immediately answers yes, he's not a terrible head coach. He
is a winning head coach. But the question, and when
you look at the man's history, let's look at his
coaching record. That way we can be clear about what
type of coach that this man is. This is a
(17:40):
man who has been at Central Michigan, then for three years,
for six nine then goes over to Cincinnati ten games,
eleven games, twelve games at Notre Dame won twelve games,
ten games, ten twelve, eleven, ten eleven. This is a
(18:02):
winning head coach. And then even at LSU ten wins,
ten wins, nine wins, and now he's sitting at five
and three. The expectations at LSU are different. Now, the
question is this, how much different should the expectations really
be at LSU? We are in the new era of
(18:23):
college football, we are not in the old era. And
they're sitting there watching Indiana have success, They're watching Alabama
have success, and they're like, if Alabama's going to the
playoffs with Kaitlin de Boor and they're winning, why are
we down three games already? And I say that there
(18:45):
are two rules for firing a head coach. Number one,
is there a loss? I'm sorry, Is there somebody that
you can guarantee get that will do a better job?
And I'm not Yes, at LSU you have to be
thinking there's somebody that we can get that is gonna,
at least at a floor do what Brian Kelly's doing.
(19:06):
And then you think, all right, The next question is
there a loss of hope? Yes, there's a loss of hope.
And I saw Van Latham say something earlier, and I
thought it was was just crazy good he's because he's
an LSU fan. And he said that when you think
(19:29):
about people of faith, right when they say that they
have they're having a crisis of faith. They haven't lost faith,
They're just having a crisis of faith and just as
long as they got a little bit left, that's all
that matters. And you can rebuild trust. Trust can be rebuilt,
(19:52):
but you can't rebuild a loss of faith. And I
was like, damn when when faith is lost, there's no
coming back. And people had lost faith in Brian Kelly,
which is, you know, crazy. But the next question is
who should be the next head coach at LSU. Who's
(20:13):
gonna want this job? Because this is an excellent job.
But here is what I know from the people that
from when I talked to head coaches. And you can
go on the Unafraided show on YouTube channel and watch
Dabbo Sweeney, Dan Lanning, Kenny Dillingham, Brett Bielimba, a whole
(20:33):
bunch of other coaches on there. And I have a
bunch of friends who I played with who are assistant coaches.
Current head coaches talk to head coaches regularly. One of
the things that they have changed. As far as the
like ten years ago, if the LSU job came open,
pretty much every coach in America who wasn't at about
(20:56):
five or six schools would leave and go to that job.
But now we are in the nil and transfer portal era.
Expectations are not right at LSU right right now, and
they're like, why would I go there. I am having
success at you know, at Notre Dame. I'm having success
at at whatever job I'm at. They are resourcing me,
(21:20):
they are We're growing. I have swayed with the administration.
Firing me is gonna be I'm gonna get a little
more leeway instead of going over there. Pressure is crazy high.
I recruiting is not just a layup like it used
to be, even though that the state of Louisiana is
a hot bed for recruiting one of the most per
(21:43):
capita NFL players from one of the states with the
highest per capita of NFL players. So that's something, and
that is crazy, and that is crazy. But and LSU
is definitely a blue blood you university and you guys,
I see you guys in the chat. I will get
(22:04):
to you in just a minute. Because I don't want
to forget you, but you can stand out in the chat,
all right, So who should take this head coaching job?
Because every every fan, right, we gotta look at what
the fans want versus reality. And I believe Penn State
is learning what reality really looks like because they believe
(22:28):
that that they should be a you know, a job
that anybody would leave where they where they are. Well,
fans want a big name, and schools get lost when
they want to win the press conference, when they want
to win the press conference with the name. So I'm
gonna tell you the first names that you are going
(22:49):
to hear about this LSU job. Number One, you're gonna
hear Nick Saban, which I would call Nick Saban, I
absolutely would. But then the next name that you're gonna hear,
Urban Meyer, I'm not calling Urban Meyer. Ervin Meyer is
one of the greatest college football coaches of all time. However,
(23:11):
I do not believe that the way he ruled at
Florida and the success that he was able to have
there and that Ohio State, I don't believe that that
translates to this era of college football. Not that he's
not a great coach, I mean there's plenty of great
coaches who don't translate from era to era, and I
would not take that sort of risk because what it's
(23:33):
gonna cost to get Urban Meyer. He gonna be like,
I'm not coming out of here, dude. I should be
one of the highest paid head coaches in college football.
So now you're gonna pay him twelve thirteen million dollars
when he hadn't coached in a long time and in
this era, the last place went bad at Jacksonville. Throw
Urban Meyer out of your discussion, first of all. But
he's going to be brought up. Third name that you're
(23:55):
gonna hear, You're gonna hear Lane Kiffin. So now you
got Florida fans scared because they think that they're getting
Lane Kiffin. LSU is probably gonna press to get Lane Kiffin.
Old miss fans are scared because they're like, don't leave
us Lane. So Lane Kiffin is gonna be a hot commodity.
He is gonna get paid so much money for this,
(24:20):
like he is gonna get bookoop bread for this. So
that's a name that you're going to here. Of course
we need to call Marcus Freeman. Marcus Freeman is not
leaving Notre Dame except for an NFL job. I can
you can book that. You can take that to the
banking going for the LSU job, ain't going for Florida.
(24:42):
None of them is staying at Notre Dame. And then
you're gonna hear whoa, whoa. We gotta make Dan Lanning
say no. I'll say it for you, Dan Lanning ain't
leaving Oregon. So now we start to get down to
these other names that you're gonna hear. One of the
names that you we'll see as well is oh is
(25:06):
Jimbo Fisher. And I'm like, you're going to hire Jimbo
Fisher who just robbed in Texas A and m okay,
if you wanted to do that, all right, make it,
so go ahead if you want to go down that move.
(25:27):
But here are the other names that you need to
be putting. Oh what? And you're also gonna hear Joe Brady,
who was part of the LSU national championship in twenty nineteen,
one of the best teams ever. He is the offensive
coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, who are going to the playoffs,
so he ain't even gonna be available at least until
(25:50):
mid January and they just beat the Carolina Panthers forty
to three or forty to nine today forty six something.
It was crazy. And you think he's going to turn
around and leave Buffalo to come back and recruit in
college football when he's on track to being an NFL
head coach. No, sir, No sir, I'm sorry. Take Joe
(26:13):
Brady Penn State. Take Joe Brady out your brain all
of this stuff. Next coach that you're gonna hear James Franklin.
I'm like, wait, what what are we doing if you
need the same results as as Brian Kelly. Not that
he's a bad coach, because I would hire James Franklin.
(26:34):
I just wouldn't hire James Franklin if I were expecting
national championships. He would be my idea of a bridge
coach to where if we're Florida State and we fire
Mike Norvel, then I'm bringing in a James Franklin type
to raise the floor because I just need to stabilize
things over there. I need an adult in the room,
somebody who's done this and had success at a big
(26:57):
time program for a while. So those are the names
that you're gonna hear initially, and then after that you're
gonna start hearing Rhett Lashly, who's over there at SMU.
You're gonna start hearing Louisville's Jeff Brom Brent Key at
Georgia Tech. And I'm gonna tell you this, I do
(27:19):
not believe, and I know that that LSU fans are
going to scoff at this, but I do not believe
Georgia Tech's head coach Brent Key, Clark Lee from Vanderbilt,
Kenny Dillingham from Arizona State, Jeff Brohm from Louisville, or
(27:42):
Kalanie Sataki from BYU would be willing to leave where
they are at their alma maters where they played, except
for Kenny dillihan, but he grew up there. His mom
and dad and sisters all live on the same street
that went to games together as kids. None of those
coaches leaving for LSU. So you might as well cross
(28:03):
those names off the list. I'm sorry, LSU. That don't
mean you don't have a great job, but these coaches
know that's a losing proposition. Hell, they fired Ed Oderon
after he won a national championship. They will get you
up out of there. That is a job for that
is a retirement playing job is what it is. Now.
(28:26):
The other names that you're gonna hear well, the names
that should be on LSU's list. The names that should
be on LSU's list. Fran Brown, but I believe he
should be Penn State's head coach. That's the guy that
Penn State and needs to hire. I would look at
Brian Haynes, Indiana's defensive coordinator. I would look at Ohio
(28:48):
State's offensive coordinator, Brian Hartline his recruiting goes crazy. I
would look at Bob Chesney from James Maddison, I would
look at Georgia's defensive coordinator, Glenn Schuman. I'm looking at
all of those names early in my coaching search situation,
(29:13):
all of them or or check check this out Iowa
States Matt Campbell reasonable, right, very reasonable. Or Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz. Now,
if you're drink Witz, you cannot sit up here and
(29:35):
be like, ooh, Missouri. LSU. He's starting to build up
sway with the administration. He can get things that he
wants and then you're like, let me go down to LSU.
He's really gonna have to think about that. And I'm
telling you he might take the job if you offer
it to him, but I don't know. All right, let
me hop in the chat real quick and see what
(29:56):
y'all have to say. Oh, it said we need a
coach who wants to win. What do you mean wants
to win? I mean, I'm assuming that all of them
want to win. So here is the thing that people
(30:17):
keep bringing up, mister steal your coach energy. There's a
lot of mister steal your coach energy going on right now.
I want you guys to find me a time where
stealing a head coach has worked, aside from in the
in the power for aside from Nick Saban getting stolen
(30:38):
from Michigan State down to LSU, find me another time
where that worked. I'll wait, I'm gonna let y'all drop
that in the chat. Where where you stole a coach
from a power for university and and it were into
(31:01):
another power for university. I'm not talking about Tulane to LSU. Hell,
you actually might consider John John Someraw who's right down
the street at Tulane. He's doing a great job there.
But you know what LSU fans will feel like, They
feel like they're a little too good for John Summraw
(31:22):
now they is that. Now, if they can lure Brady
from the NFL, that would be a win, sure assuming,
but I highly doubt Joe Brady would be willing to leave.
And then when is he going to leave? You're gonna
miss out on the transfer portal class and the recruiting
class if so, Come on, man, and we are living
(31:43):
in an era now where NIO and a transfer portal
have nerfed, have absolutely nerfed blue blood programs. USC doesn't
have the same advantage that it used to over Oregon,
over Washington, over anybody else. You can win anywhere where
you are resourced. You have dog recruiters, and you have
(32:08):
you know, and you're putting a good product on the
field and dudes in the NFL. That's the truth. Oh wow,
l let's see. See here's the unrealistic expectations of you,
of LSU fans, and this is no disparagement to you.
Is that we want a championship. We are LSU. We
should play for a championship almost every other year. Now,
(32:31):
if you are saying play for a championship, are you
saying top twelve action that you should make the college
Football Playoff every other year. If that's what you're saying,
I can get down with that as a as an
LSU as a university thing, then yes, your expectation is
to make the college Football Playoff every other year because
(32:52):
if you get in the tournament, you got a shot.
So that's playing for a national championship. I can co
sign that. And every other year means that one year,
then you might make it the next year, and then
you don't make it for a year or two, and
then you're back in it after that. Like that's what
every other year means, which I think that that's reasonable
(33:14):
for LSU. Oh GJ. Kenney over there at Texas State,
he should be an option. But the issue is is
do LSU fans really want a good coach or do
(33:34):
they a winning coach or do they want a name?
Because we are here in this era of college football,
and and here's what I'm gonna tell you, firing coaches
at this level is one hundred percent unsustainable. Firing coaches
(33:56):
like we're doing right now is one hundred percent unsustainable.
You can't keep calling on the governor, you can't keep
calling on the boosters to fund buyouts. The well will
run dry at some point in time, and then we
will blame the players. All there's how is there not
enough money to pay the players when you're paying one
(34:19):
hundred almost two hundred million dollars in buyouts already this
college football season? Come on, man, but playing paying the
players that's a bridge too far. Absolutely not, absolutely not.
And oh, LS, you want to say in the chat, we
want a championship winning coach, who are you gonna go get?
(34:43):
How many active head coaches right now have a championship?
I believe Ryan Day is the only one, Ryan, So
are you gonna get Ryan Ryan Day? No, you need
a coach who will win a championship, not a coach
who has already won a championship, because that is that's
not the way that this works, all right, So I
(35:05):
believe that you are going to that as this develops,
I will be breaking news in terms of who is
really a threat to have this job and all this stuff.
And then you got to think about Ryan Silverfield at Memphis,
what he's doing over there, He's got to be on
a list. But what I would do if I were LSU,
(35:28):
I would be looking for a coach who is a winner,
a coach who has done some sustainable things at other places,
and not be afraid of hiring a offensive coordinator or
defensive coordinator because the names that people are gonna fancy
about Dan Lanney, Marcus Freeman, what were they before they
(35:52):
got hired at Notre Dame and at Oregon. Defensive coordinator
at Georgia and defensive coordinator at since slash Notre Dame,
That's what they were. And they're two of the best
coaches in college football right right now. And I guarantee
you there is a Kurt Signetti on somebody's staff right now,
(36:13):
somebody who is the recruiting coordinator slash offensive line coach
or tight end coach who is getting passed over year
after year for opportunities and promotions, and turns out he's
the leader of men that you actually need. So stop,
so fans, I implore you stop trying to win the
(36:34):
press conference and be happy if you get a really
good head coach, because at the end of the day,
that is the only thing that matters, is a winning
head coach. And who you think will make you a
threat is not who will make you a threat. What
else we have in the chat oh is Lincoln Riley
next at USC. No, USC is not paying this this
(36:59):
buyout at all. Somebody. Yeah he's due like another like
sixty million dollars or something. Yeah, they will not be
paying that buyout over there at USC. What happened to
talking ducks still trying to figure that out because there
is a sports issue and all that stuff. But we'll
(37:20):
talk about that as another day. But I want to
go back for those who just opt in. I want
to go back to what I talked about in the beginning.
Brian Kelly fifty three million dollars in buyout money. Unless
he was like, Yo, I'm out of here. I don't
want to be a part of LSU no more because
y'all don't want me me here, So I'm getting up
(37:41):
out of here. So that's the breaking news. He was
four and eleven in ranked games. So for all of
this talk about about about the head coach over there,
James Franklin, for all the James Franklin talk, Brian Kelly
(38:02):
was four and eleven and ranked games. And now we
got the craziest portal, well, the craziest head coaching portal LSU, Florida,
Penn State. Now, which one of those is the most
desirable job. We're not in an era where the most
desirable job is the one that people should be going to.
(38:24):
It is where is the fit. That's why I said
fran Brown fits at Penn State. He would also fit
at LSU. I believe that Brian Hartline would fit at LSU,
maybe even will Stein, Bob Chesney at James Madison. These
are options. But Brian Kelly made three critical errors at
(38:47):
LSU once he first got the job, and it should
have been a sign to everybody else that things were
going to right and that this was not going to work.
Number one thing is when he left Notre Dame, how
did only I believe it was one coach come with him,
(39:09):
Tommy Moffatt, No excuse me? Why did the only the
offensive coordinator come with him? And I and that's Mike Denbrock.
And I know that Brian Kelly's a CEO model kind
of guy. So either one or two things is true.
And I said this earlier. Either Brian Kelly bigger better
deals everybody on that Notre Dame staff and was like
(39:30):
they're not good enough for what I'm going to go
do at at at LSU, or they were like, we
don't really fool with you like that, we gonna stay.
So either one of those two things is true, and
neither one of them is good. Neither one of them
is good. So only Mike Denbrock coming with him, and
(39:52):
then Mike Denbrock leaving shortly after that is a sign
about what people who work with Brian Kelly think because
normally when coaches leave one job to go to the other,
they have multiple coaches come with them multiple and when
you don't, that's that's a sign. So that's the first thing.
(40:15):
Second thing is when he got up there with the
with that fake accent, that fake Louisiana accent, that was
a bridge too far, Like what are you doing, pal,
what are you doing? Oh hey, we're gonna We're gonna
go in here and I haven't even won all my
games yet, Like where'd you find this this Cajun accent? Ricky, Ricky, Bobby,
(40:42):
where did you find this Cajun accent? Water guy from
the water Boy? Shocking? And then the the third thing, well,
actually there there was actually four things. But the third
thing was when he first got to LSU, he fired
Tommy Moffins, who is a legendary strength and conditioning coach,
(41:04):
He was a strengthen conditioning coach at all three of
LSU's national championships in this century, all three and you
just give him the boot immediately. And now he's over
there at Texas A and M who just bulldozed you yesterday.
(41:24):
The strength and conditioning coach has a unique relationship with
the players. And when it is somebody who's been at
a institution as long as Tommy Moffatt hat, it does
not work because he has a connection to the players.
He's got a connection to the past players. And I
(41:46):
know this from going to the University of Oregon because
we had a strengthen conditioning coach, Coach Rad there for
a very long time. And then as soon as they
put coach coach Rad away, when Willie Taggert came, he
came and brought his guy. All hell broke loose with
the team players in the hospital, all of this stuff
because of a change in the strength and conditioning coach.
(42:08):
It did not go over well. And then the next
thing that he did is he fired g String. You're like,
who the hell is g String? George. It is Greg Stringfellow,
who was the equipment manager there, legendary equipment manager and
(42:34):
equipment managers have the pulse of the team. The players
go hang out in the equipment room. They have conversations
with the equipment manager and their staff that your coaches need.
So if you are a brand new coach bringing a
whole new staff into the building, you don't have eyes
and ears on your team properly because you have fired
(42:57):
the strength and conditioning coach, and you fired the and
you fired the next well, and you fired the equipment manager.
And Pete Thamil actually on a side note, just came
out and said that the terms of the negotiation of
the of the buyout are still not final yet. They
(43:20):
are still negotiating them, which is crazy because that the
terms of the separation are still being negotiating. Now, what
that says to me is is that you had Brian Kelly,
who is an ego man. That Brian Kelly was like,
mm oh, y'all want me gone? Oh cool? Cool, I'm
(43:42):
out there, I'm out, but I'm not gonna quit. Yeah,
I'll show up to work. I'm not gonna quit. But
you want me out right, okay, cool? Give me my money.
No no, no, no, no, no, I'm not taking a light
on you. Well, actually, you know what we can do.
You owe me fifty three million dollars. You owe me
(44:02):
seven hundred and forty thousand dollars a month until December
thirty first, two thousand and thirty one. Okay, So I
have offset language in my contract. So that means that
if I get a new job, that pays, because you
were paying me over ten million dollars. If I get
a new job and I get you know, and I'm
(44:25):
getting five hundred thousand dollars a month, then you only
have to pay me two hundred and forty thousand dollars
a month. So that's a good deal for LSU. But
since you want me gone, you know what, Actually, I'm
gonna give you a break. Just give me thirty five
million and no offset. This is the terms that they're negotiating.
(44:46):
I promise you that I'm sure of this because he
is probably frustrated and upset. And you know, he got
that that ego because he never takes blame for anything.
He blames the coaches, he blames the he blames everybody
except for him himself. Now in the last press conference,
I mean, well it starts with me. I mean I'm
(45:08):
more disappointed than anybody else. I'm I gotta be the
one that's gonna be better and all. He said, hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah, we don't we don't want to hear We
don't want to hear it. We do not want to
hear it. So so yeah, so that's the situation there.
And he's a head coach who I believe has put
(45:30):
himself in a situation where, uh, he is going to
be desirable to a lot of other schools. Now think
about the and and we're gonna get out of here
after this is I want you guys to pay attention
to how Brian Kelly well, who Brian Kelly is, and
(45:53):
the job openings that are open. So, would you hire
Brian Kelly at Oklahoma State? Yeah, he'll win there on
some some level. Would you hire him at Arkansas? Yes?
Would you hire him at Colorado State? Yes? U a B. Yes.
Would you hire him as stamp No? Would you hire
him at Virginia Tech? Probably? This is just the truth.
(46:13):
He's won everywhere he's been, but he also is not liked.
He will wear out his welcome. We're out his welcome
and Notre Dame were at as welcome at LSU. He's
a wear out your welcome kind of kind of kind
of guy. But he typically will produce results. But you
can't talk to people the way that you used to
and get away with it. We are in a whole
(46:34):
new era, whole new life, whole new situ situation. So
he is gonna be able to find a job. But
I wanted everybody to pay attention to this. There are
very few head coaches. Well, out of all these head
coaching jobs, baby, we've got LSU, Florida, Penn State, USLA,
Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Arkansas, Oregon State, UAB, Colorado State,
(47:01):
and then Auburn and Florida State may be on the way.
So and then if you take brit Key Clark Lee,
Kenny Dillingham, Jeff Brohm, and Kilane Sataki, Dan Lanning and
Marcus Freeman off the table, Mario Christobaul off the table, Now,
(47:23):
where are all of these head coaches going to come from?
That's the question. So you're gonna have teams just just
grasping at straws and being desperate and just hiring somebody
because it's going to win a press conference. So now
you're actually gonna have teams lose their offensive and defensive
coordinators for some of these head coaching jobs, and then
(47:46):
you're gonna have some like if Texas State, if JG.
Kenney gets a job, if Tulane gets a head coach,
if John summer Off gets a head coaching job, Ryan
Silverfield from Memphis, eck over there at New Mexico, all
those teams are now gonna need new head coaches. And
then you're gonna go all the way down to like
(48:07):
UC Davis at tim Plow or Montana's head coach or like.
This is going to be fallout at every single level.
This is going to impact recruiting because if you are
a kid, or you are a family of a kid
who is committed to somewhere, this is a fluid situation.
(48:28):
There's a kid, you know at the high school that
my kid would do at. He's committed to LSU. Now
who knows where's their legendary defensive backs coach. Where's he
gonna go? Tell you, stuff is tricky around here, but
you guys, we will continue to have updates. Make sure
(48:50):
that you like, subscribe, get notifications, Tell a friend about
the Unafraid show, and go back and look at the
recap from last night. Popping out here, in these streets,
peace out, Y
The news has finally broken. It was clear as day
all day what was gonna happen with LSU. They have
fired Brian Kelly. He is no longer the head coach
of the LSU Tigers, and we gotta talk about it.
We are going to examine everything from whether he should
have been fired, what's next for LSU, Where does LSU
(00:25):
rank amongst all of these head coaching job openings. We
gotta talk about everything from the nitty gritty, and y'all
make sure that y'all hop in the chat because you
know I will always respond and listen to what y'all
gotta say in the chat. So make sure that you
guys like subscribe, get notifications, and tell a friend about
(00:45):
the show because you know it is about to be
on and popping right now. This is one of the
best coaching positions in all of college football. And Brian
Kelly bolted Notre Dame after twelve years at Notre Dame
and people were like, Oh my god, I can't believe
(01:06):
he did this. He's a bigger, better deal guy. He
went down to Notre Dame. He went down to LSU
because LSU is a bigger program, especially at that point,
and point in time, they're in the SEC. They are
recent national champions under Ed Ojeron, and they are a hit.
They've put so many players in the NFL. And Brian
(01:28):
Kelly was of the opinion, if I go down to LSU,
that'll be everything that I need. And in reality, and
he told everybody, judge me in year three and we're
gonna talk about all of it. Make sure that you like, subscribe,
get notifications, and tell a friend about the show. All right. So,
Brian Kelly year four at LSU, twelve years at Notre Dame,
(01:52):
four years at Cincinnati, and three years at Central Michigan.
This is now ignited. What is a crazy college football cycle.
LSU is open, Florida State is open, Penn State, UCLA,
Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Arkansas, Oregon State, UAB, Colorado
(02:14):
State all open right now. And that's before we even
get to Auburn potentially being open. Hugh Freeze got a
stay of execution this weekend. Florida State, same thing, and
right now, before we know all of the details, Brian
Kelly is old fifty three million dollars of buyout money,
(02:37):
and this is going to be the second biggest buyout
in college football history, our mister man over there at
over At Texas A and M Jimbo Fisher he holds
the record at seventy six million dollars. So even if
Brian Kelly agreed to even half of what is old
(02:57):
to him at twenty seven million dollars, because this was
becoming an untenable situation between him and the fans and
the administration and everybody, and they're sitting at five and three.
They're sitting at five and three. This had become such
an untenable situation that he might have said, you know what,
I don't even want to be here no more. Either.
(03:19):
Let's figure out a way to work this out. Now,
I will say, I don't know how many people would
be willing to forego seven hundred thousand dollars a month,
which is what he would be. Oh so, according to
his contract, LSU would have six years remaining on his deal,
(03:44):
six years remaining on Brian Kelly's deal, and they would
owe him fifty three point twenty nine million dollars after
this season, and that buyout, because he makes over ten
million dollars this year, that buyout would drop to you know,
four forty three after twenty six and all this stuff.
But no, no, no, since they fired him, if he
(04:06):
I have no idea why he would not take the
seven hundred and forty one hundred and eighty five thousand
dollars a month until December thirty first, twenty thirty one.
I don't know why he would not take that option. Now,
he does have offset language in his contract to where
if he ends up as the head coach of another
(04:28):
university or any other job, then that takes off. So,
for instance, if somebody hires him at seven million dollars
a year, he's gonna end up with LSU's only going
to have to pay him three million and some change
based upon that. So offset language is good. But listen
(04:48):
to the other perks that this man is losing. As
far as this job one point two million dollars of
an interest free mortgage with relocation costs up to one
point two million dollars relocation costs a one point two
million dollars for his housing, and then the Tigers were
also paying an annual car allowance of two hundred and
(05:10):
seventy five thousand dollars. Well, excuse me, an annual car
allowance and two hundred and seventy five thousand dollars a
year for private air travel and Baton Rouge country club membership.
So that is the deal that he had. But we
got to start talking about where did this go wrong.
(05:32):
I will tell you that Brian Kelly, when he took
the LSU job, he made crucial missteps and everybody should
have seen that this was a bad idea from the beginning. Okay,
so first thing that that happened when he left Notre Dame.
(05:52):
Did anybody pay attention to the fact that only one
coach came with him and Mike din brought their offensive court,
who then turned around and left the following season, and well, yeah,
two seasons later and went back to Notre Dame. Did
anybody pay attention to that when coaches leave? Let's look
(06:12):
at Jed Fish. He left Arizona went up to Washington.
Pretty much the whole coaching staff went with him. That
means that you are well liked and trusted by the
people that you work with. So either one or two
things happened. Either Brian Kelly just left his assistance behind
and was like, I'll go get better ones than these guys.
(06:36):
So either he bigger, better dealed his staff or his
staff was like, we really fooling with you, BK, we
really in this with you like that. So either one
of the two things happened, and either one of them
ain't good. So that was his first mistake was when
(06:59):
he left Notre d and the first sign that something
was wrong when he didn't have a bunch of other
coaches come with him. That's first thing. The second mistake
that he made was when he got up in that
press sorry up at the game and said and use
that fake Cajun accent, Hey, y'all, we we over here
(07:23):
go tige us, trying to sound like a mix of
Midwestern guy meets and oderon and people saw right through
it instantly. So that was the second mistake. Third mistake,
and probably the most crucial mistake that Brian Kelly made
the entire time, is that when he went down to LSU,
(07:48):
one of the first people that he fired was Tommy Moffatt.
He is a legendary strength and conditioning coach who was
part of all three LSU titles this century. And guess
where Tommy Moffitt is right now. He's over in Texas.
A and M who pushed them around and bullied LSU
(08:08):
yesterday yesterday, that's where he is. And then you had
that new strength and conditioning coach because LSU had a
long standing tradition of if you were an NFL player,
if you were a player who went to the league,
then you could use their weight room. Well, their new
(08:30):
strength and conditioning coach. They had a guy who was
a fring NFL player, He was a special teams guy
and all this stuff, but he was in but he
was an NFL player. They kicked him up out of
the weight room. And this is the reason why relationships
started to strain with guys like the Honey Badger, Tyron
(08:51):
Matthew and other people. It was because of things like this,
and so that was a huge mistake because the strength
and conditioning is honestly one of the most important resources
for a head coach. Now, I'm not saying that you
are forced to keep the former strength and conditioning staff,
(09:13):
because I don't think that you should be. However, though,
it is very important to understand that the strength and
conditioning staff are the people who have the end with
the players. They are with the players more than the
coaches are, and they hear them private conversations and they
(09:35):
know what the real temperature in the room is. So
that was the first mistake, firing him without you know,
understanding that this guy was an institution at the university
as opposed to just some fly by night strengthen conditioning coach.
And the second person that he fired, which is crazy,
(09:55):
is Greg Stringfellow, who is aka g String is their
equipment manager. And the equipment manager is another one of
those eyes and ears type of people for a coaching staff,
eyes and ears for the coaching staff. And this was
(10:17):
a bad idea, bad idea because the equipment manager is
just like the strengthen conditioning coach. He knows and his job.
He knows where the storage sheds are, knows where the
uniforms are, knows where all of these things are, and
knows the players intimately. So when you have no connection
(10:42):
from the strength and conditioning staff, from the equipment staff
to the coaches, and you are new in the building
and you're bringing in all new coaches because you didn't
bring your guys with you. You are going to be
at a and you're in a new place, new environment,
everything else, you are setting yourself up for disaster, which
(11:04):
is exactly what Brian Kelly did. Misstep after misstep. Those
were the three biggest things that he did to put
himself in the situation right now. So and when you
are not well liked, when in life, people will put
up with somebody that they deem to be an asshole
(11:26):
when they believe that that you're winning, that the replacement
value of you is low, that they can't go find
another you. It's just like when players get in trouble,
if they get arrested, they get you know, they mouthed
off to the coach, they do all of this stuff,
(11:47):
they're late for meetings. They don't fire them if they're great,
but the but the minute that the problems outweigh their
addition and their value, they get rid of them. And
that's exactly what happened that here at LSU. This fifty
potentially fifty three million dollar buyout is a lot. And
(12:08):
this is a situation where where they had to go
to the governor to talk about this. So people missed
a little bit of the reporting that Ross Dellinger said. LSU,
their officials they went to go talk to the governor.
Brian Kelly's the highest paid state employee and LSU this
(12:32):
was not going to be a privately funded firing where
if you are at Cody, if you're at Texas Tech
and you want to fire a coach, you gotta talk
to Cody Campbell. You ain't got to talk to the governor.
You want to fire somebody at Oregon, you gotta go
talk to Phil Knight. You don't have to go talk
to the governor of Oregon. You have to go talk
(12:53):
to who is writing the check. So this appears to
be that the state of Louisiana's writing the check. So
this is crazy. And now FBS schools have already committed
to spend more than one hundred and forty million dollars
on fired coaches. And that's if Brian Kelly agreed to
(13:15):
half of what he's own. If he didn't, we over
one hundred and sixty This is the most in the
history of college athletics, which would the most have ever
been paid is one hundred and thirty two million dollars
in buyouts in twenty twenty three. The season ain't even
(13:35):
over yet. We still got Auburn and Florida State who
might be open as well. This is wild. So so
now you think about who is going to be who
is going to be the next head coach at LSU. Actually,
first of all, was this fair because LSU is five
(13:59):
and three right now. Now. They beat Clemson to start
the season, and remember I came on here and I
told everybody at the beginning of the season. Once they
beat LSU, Brian Kelly put way too much emphasis on that.
On that win, he came out and he told everybody.
He was like, oh man, oh that was a that
(14:19):
was a great win. And remember he actually criticized uh
Dabo Sweeney at Clemson because Dabo Sweeney said, well, we
got a D. I'm sorry that LSU played a D game.
We played the F game and he was like, I
don't know what that D was. And you're like, hold up,
when you watch the film, Clemson was awful in the game,
(14:42):
got awful and LSU's offense was atrocious in the game.
And then we find out that Clemson ain't that good
this season. And then they got a struggle bus win
over Florida with and then they lost to Ole Miss
and people were like, Okay, this is weird, but you
(15:02):
know what, still potentially a playoff team South Carolina struggle
bus with South Carolina only scored twenty points this is weird.
Garrett nussmar four thousand yards last year this year on
pace for twenty eight hundred something, ain't right. Then you
lose to Vanderbilt. Then you get absolutely boat raced in
a night game where you are supposed to have the
(15:24):
ultimate advantage playing at home and Death Valley, that is
supposed to be the greatest advantage in college football according
to some people. And then you find out so so yeah,
so that is crazy. And mind you, they fired him
before they go play at Alabama. They were just like,
(15:46):
we're sick of it. And this is why it matters
whether people like you or not. Because Brian Kelly was
up in Stafford's faces offensive coordinator face, called good plays.
And this this when you b rape p when you
treat people like Brian Kelly has treated people, when you
do things like the kids falling off the this scaffolding
(16:08):
at Notre Dame, and you react how you did when
the when when the kid ended up getting sick and
had the brain situation at LSU and the family is like,
he ain't really coming to come see us, he ain't
really checking in on him. That ain't good. That is
not good. It is never going to go overwell, because
(16:31):
when you start falling, when you climb over everybody and
you're not you're too busy for them, you're too good
for them, and you treat them crazy on the way down.
They they will move out of the way and let
you fall. They will not catch you. They will not
break your fault. And that's exactly what happened to Brian Kelly.
Nobody was going to break his fall in this situation.
(16:53):
They weren't. They were like, hey, sorry, bro, if he dies,
he dies the rocky rocky style. And he's a coach
that uses this CEO model, Like he's not an offensive coordinator,
he's not a defensive coordinator. He is the CEO model
head coach. Now, the next question is is he hireable?
(17:16):
Immediately answers yes, he's not a terrible head coach. He
is a winning head coach. But the question, and when
you look at the man's history, let's look at his
coaching record. That way we can be clear about what
type of coach that this man is. This is a
(17:40):
man who has been at Central Michigan, then for three years,
for six nine then goes over to Cincinnati ten games,
eleven games, twelve games at Notre Dame won twelve games,
ten games, ten twelve, eleven, ten eleven. This is a
(18:02):
winning head coach. And then even at LSU ten wins,
ten wins, nine wins, and now he's sitting at five
and three. The expectations at LSU are different. Now, the
question is this, how much different should the expectations really
be at LSU? We are in the new era of
(18:23):
college football, we are not in the old era. And
they're sitting there watching Indiana have success, They're watching Alabama
have success, and they're like, if Alabama's going to the
playoffs with Kaitlin de Boor and they're winning, why are
we down three games already? And I say that there
(18:45):
are two rules for firing a head coach. Number one,
is there a loss? I'm sorry, Is there somebody that
you can guarantee get that will do a better job?
And I'm not Yes, at LSU you have to be
thinking there's somebody that we can get that is gonna,
at least at a floor do what Brian Kelly's doing.
(19:06):
And then you think, all right, The next question is
there a loss of hope? Yes, there's a loss of hope.
And I saw Van Latham say something earlier, and I
thought it was was just crazy good he's because he's
an LSU fan. And he said that when you think
(19:29):
about people of faith, right when they say that they
have they're having a crisis of faith. They haven't lost faith,
They're just having a crisis of faith and just as
long as they got a little bit left, that's all
that matters. And you can rebuild trust. Trust can be rebuilt,
(19:52):
but you can't rebuild a loss of faith. And I
was like, damn when when faith is lost, there's no
coming back. And people had lost faith in Brian Kelly,
which is, you know, crazy. But the next question is
who should be the next head coach at LSU. Who's
(20:13):
gonna want this job? Because this is an excellent job.
But here is what I know from the people that
from when I talked to head coaches. And you can
go on the Unafraided show on YouTube channel and watch
Dabbo Sweeney, Dan Lanning, Kenny Dillingham, Brett Bielimba, a whole
(20:33):
bunch of other coaches on there. And I have a
bunch of friends who I played with who are assistant coaches.
Current head coaches talk to head coaches regularly. One of
the things that they have changed. As far as the
like ten years ago, if the LSU job came open,
pretty much every coach in America who wasn't at about
(20:56):
five or six schools would leave and go to that job.
But now we are in the nil and transfer portal era.
Expectations are not right at LSU right right now, and
they're like, why would I go there. I am having
success at you know, at Notre Dame. I'm having success
at at whatever job I'm at. They are resourcing me,
(21:20):
they are We're growing. I have swayed with the administration.
Firing me is gonna be I'm gonna get a little
more leeway instead of going over there. Pressure is crazy high.
I recruiting is not just a layup like it used
to be, even though that the state of Louisiana is
a hot bed for recruiting one of the most per
(21:43):
capita NFL players from one of the states with the
highest per capita of NFL players. So that's something, and
that is crazy, and that is crazy. But and LSU
is definitely a blue blood you university and you guys,
I see you guys in the chat. I will get
(22:04):
to you in just a minute. Because I don't want
to forget you, but you can stand out in the chat,
all right, So who should take this head coaching job?
Because every every fan, right, we gotta look at what
the fans want versus reality. And I believe Penn State
is learning what reality really looks like because they believe
(22:28):
that that they should be a you know, a job
that anybody would leave where they where they are. Well,
fans want a big name, and schools get lost when
they want to win the press conference, when they want
to win the press conference with the name. So I'm
gonna tell you the first names that you are going
(22:49):
to hear about this LSU job. Number One, you're gonna
hear Nick Saban, which I would call Nick Saban, I
absolutely would. But then the next name that you're gonna hear,
Urban Meyer, I'm not calling Urban Meyer. Ervin Meyer is
one of the greatest college football coaches of all time. However,
(23:11):
I do not believe that the way he ruled at
Florida and the success that he was able to have
there and that Ohio State, I don't believe that that
translates to this era of college football. Not that he's
not a great coach, I mean there's plenty of great
coaches who don't translate from era to era, and I
would not take that sort of risk because what it's
(23:33):
gonna cost to get Urban Meyer. He gonna be like,
I'm not coming out of here, dude. I should be
one of the highest paid head coaches in college football.
So now you're gonna pay him twelve thirteen million dollars
when he hadn't coached in a long time and in
this era, the last place went bad at Jacksonville. Throw
Urban Meyer out of your discussion, first of all. But
he's going to be brought up. Third name that you're
(23:55):
gonna hear, You're gonna hear Lane Kiffin. So now you
got Florida fans scared because they think that they're getting
Lane Kiffin. LSU is probably gonna press to get Lane Kiffin.
Old miss fans are scared because they're like, don't leave
us Lane. So Lane Kiffin is gonna be a hot commodity.
He is gonna get paid so much money for this,
(24:20):
like he is gonna get bookoop bread for this. So
that's a name that you're going to here. Of course
we need to call Marcus Freeman. Marcus Freeman is not
leaving Notre Dame except for an NFL job. I can
you can book that. You can take that to the
banking going for the LSU job, ain't going for Florida.
(24:42):
None of them is staying at Notre Dame. And then
you're gonna hear whoa, whoa. We gotta make Dan Lanning
say no. I'll say it for you, Dan Lanning ain't
leaving Oregon. So now we start to get down to
these other names that you're gonna hear. One of the
names that you we'll see as well is oh is
(25:06):
Jimbo Fisher. And I'm like, you're going to hire Jimbo
Fisher who just robbed in Texas A and m okay,
if you wanted to do that, all right, make it,
so go ahead if you want to go down that move.
(25:27):
But here are the other names that you need to
be putting. Oh what? And you're also gonna hear Joe Brady,
who was part of the LSU national championship in twenty nineteen,
one of the best teams ever. He is the offensive
coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, who are going to the playoffs,
so he ain't even gonna be available at least until
(25:50):
mid January and they just beat the Carolina Panthers forty
to three or forty to nine today forty six something.
It was crazy. And you think he's going to turn
around and leave Buffalo to come back and recruit in
college football when he's on track to being an NFL
head coach. No, sir, No sir, I'm sorry. Take Joe
(26:13):
Brady Penn State. Take Joe Brady out your brain all
of this stuff. Next coach that you're gonna hear James Franklin.
I'm like, wait, what what are we doing if you
need the same results as as Brian Kelly. Not that
he's a bad coach, because I would hire James Franklin.
(26:34):
I just wouldn't hire James Franklin if I were expecting
national championships. He would be my idea of a bridge
coach to where if we're Florida State and we fire
Mike Norvel, then I'm bringing in a James Franklin type
to raise the floor because I just need to stabilize
things over there. I need an adult in the room,
somebody who's done this and had success at a big
(26:57):
time program for a while. So those are the names
that you're gonna hear initially, and then after that you're
gonna start hearing Rhett Lashly, who's over there at SMU.
You're gonna start hearing Louisville's Jeff Brom Brent Key at
Georgia Tech. And I'm gonna tell you this, I do
(27:19):
not believe, and I know that that LSU fans are
going to scoff at this, but I do not believe
Georgia Tech's head coach Brent Key, Clark Lee from Vanderbilt,
Kenny Dillingham from Arizona State, Jeff Brohm from Louisville, or
(27:42):
Kalanie Sataki from BYU would be willing to leave where
they are at their alma maters where they played, except
for Kenny dillihan, but he grew up there. His mom
and dad and sisters all live on the same street
that went to games together as kids. None of those
coaches leaving for LSU. So you might as well cross
(28:03):
those names off the list. I'm sorry, LSU. That don't
mean you don't have a great job, but these coaches
know that's a losing proposition. Hell, they fired Ed Oderon
after he won a national championship. They will get you
up out of there. That is a job for that
is a retirement playing job is what it is. Now.
(28:26):
The other names that you're gonna hear well, the names
that should be on LSU's list. The names that should
be on LSU's list. Fran Brown, but I believe he
should be Penn State's head coach. That's the guy that
Penn State and needs to hire. I would look at
Brian Haynes, Indiana's defensive coordinator. I would look at Ohio
(28:48):
State's offensive coordinator, Brian Hartline his recruiting goes crazy. I
would look at Bob Chesney from James Maddison, I would
look at Georgia's defensive coordinator, Glenn Schuman. I'm looking at
all of those names early in my coaching search situation,
(29:13):
all of them or or check check this out Iowa
States Matt Campbell reasonable, right, very reasonable. Or Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz. Now,
if you're drink Witz, you cannot sit up here and
(29:35):
be like, ooh, Missouri. LSU. He's starting to build up
sway with the administration. He can get things that he
wants and then you're like, let me go down to LSU.
He's really gonna have to think about that. And I'm
telling you he might take the job if you offer
it to him, but I don't know. All right, let
me hop in the chat real quick and see what
(29:56):
y'all have to say. Oh, it said we need a
coach who wants to win. What do you mean wants
to win? I mean, I'm assuming that all of them
want to win. So here is the thing that people
(30:17):
keep bringing up, mister steal your coach energy. There's a
lot of mister steal your coach energy going on right now.
I want you guys to find me a time where
stealing a head coach has worked, aside from in the
in the power for aside from Nick Saban getting stolen
(30:38):
from Michigan State down to LSU, find me another time
where that worked. I'll wait, I'm gonna let y'all drop
that in the chat. Where where you stole a coach
from a power for university and and it were into
(31:01):
another power for university. I'm not talking about Tulane to LSU. Hell,
you actually might consider John John Someraw who's right down
the street at Tulane. He's doing a great job there.
But you know what LSU fans will feel like, They
feel like they're a little too good for John Summraw
(31:22):
now they is that. Now, if they can lure Brady
from the NFL, that would be a win, sure assuming,
but I highly doubt Joe Brady would be willing to leave.
And then when is he going to leave? You're gonna
miss out on the transfer portal class and the recruiting
class if so, Come on, man, and we are living
(31:43):
in an era now where NIO and a transfer portal
have nerfed, have absolutely nerfed blue blood programs. USC doesn't
have the same advantage that it used to over Oregon,
over Washington, over anybody else. You can win anywhere where
you are resourced. You have dog recruiters, and you have
(32:08):
you know, and you're putting a good product on the
field and dudes in the NFL. That's the truth. Oh wow,
l let's see. See here's the unrealistic expectations of you,
of LSU fans, and this is no disparagement to you.
Is that we want a championship. We are LSU. We
should play for a championship almost every other year. Now,
(32:31):
if you are saying play for a championship, are you
saying top twelve action that you should make the college
Football Playoff every other year. If that's what you're saying,
I can get down with that as a as an
LSU as a university thing, then yes, your expectation is
to make the college Football Playoff every other year because
(32:52):
if you get in the tournament, you got a shot.
So that's playing for a national championship. I can co
sign that. And every other year means that one year,
then you might make it the next year, and then
you don't make it for a year or two, and
then you're back in it after that. Like that's what
every other year means, which I think that that's reasonable
(33:14):
for LSU. Oh GJ. Kenney over there at Texas State,
he should be an option. But the issue is is
do LSU fans really want a good coach or do
(33:34):
they a winning coach or do they want a name?
Because we are here in this era of college football,
and and here's what I'm gonna tell you, firing coaches
at this level is one hundred percent unsustainable. Firing coaches
(33:56):
like we're doing right now is one hundred percent unsustainable.
You can't keep calling on the governor, you can't keep
calling on the boosters to fund buyouts. The well will
run dry at some point in time, and then we
will blame the players. All there's how is there not
enough money to pay the players when you're paying one
(34:19):
hundred almost two hundred million dollars in buyouts already this
college football season? Come on, man, but playing paying the
players that's a bridge too far. Absolutely not, absolutely not.
And oh, LS, you want to say in the chat, we
want a championship winning coach, who are you gonna go get?
(34:43):
How many active head coaches right now have a championship?
I believe Ryan Day is the only one, Ryan, So
are you gonna get Ryan Ryan Day? No, you need
a coach who will win a championship, not a coach
who has already won a championship, because that is that's
not the way that this works, all right, So I
(35:05):
believe that you are going to that as this develops,
I will be breaking news in terms of who is
really a threat to have this job and all this stuff.
And then you got to think about Ryan Silverfield at Memphis,
what he's doing over there, He's got to be on
a list. But what I would do if I were LSU,
(35:28):
I would be looking for a coach who is a winner,
a coach who has done some sustainable things at other places,
and not be afraid of hiring a offensive coordinator or
defensive coordinator because the names that people are gonna fancy
about Dan Lanney, Marcus Freeman, what were they before they
(35:52):
got hired at Notre Dame and at Oregon. Defensive coordinator
at Georgia and defensive coordinator at since slash Notre Dame,
That's what they were. And they're two of the best
coaches in college football right right now. And I guarantee
you there is a Kurt Signetti on somebody's staff right now,
(36:13):
somebody who is the recruiting coordinator slash offensive line coach
or tight end coach who is getting passed over year
after year for opportunities and promotions, and turns out he's
the leader of men that you actually need. So stop,
so fans, I implore you stop trying to win the
(36:34):
press conference and be happy if you get a really
good head coach, because at the end of the day,
that is the only thing that matters, is a winning
head coach. And who you think will make you a
threat is not who will make you a threat. What
else we have in the chat oh is Lincoln Riley
next at USC. No, USC is not paying this this
(36:59):
buyout at all. Somebody. Yeah he's due like another like
sixty million dollars or something. Yeah, they will not be
paying that buyout over there at USC. What happened to
talking ducks still trying to figure that out because there
is a sports issue and all that stuff. But we'll
(37:20):
talk about that as another day. But I want to
go back for those who just opt in. I want
to go back to what I talked about in the beginning.
Brian Kelly fifty three million dollars in buyout money. Unless
he was like, Yo, I'm out of here. I don't
want to be a part of LSU no more because
y'all don't want me me here, So I'm getting up
(37:41):
out of here. So that's the breaking news. He was
four and eleven in ranked games. So for all of
this talk about about about the head coach over there,
James Franklin, for all the James Franklin talk, Brian Kelly
(38:02):
was four and eleven and ranked games. And now we
got the craziest portal, well, the craziest head coaching portal LSU, Florida,
Penn State. Now, which one of those is the most
desirable job. We're not in an era where the most
desirable job is the one that people should be going to.
(38:24):
It is where is the fit. That's why I said
fran Brown fits at Penn State. He would also fit
at LSU. I believe that Brian Hartline would fit at LSU,
maybe even will Stein, Bob Chesney at James Madison. These
are options. But Brian Kelly made three critical errors at
(38:47):
LSU once he first got the job, and it should
have been a sign to everybody else that things were
going to right and that this was not going to work.
Number one thing is when he left Notre Dame, how
did only I believe it was one coach come with him,
(39:09):
Tommy Moffatt, No excuse me? Why did the only the
offensive coordinator come with him? And I and that's Mike Denbrock.
And I know that Brian Kelly's a CEO model kind
of guy. So either one or two things is true.
And I said this earlier. Either Brian Kelly bigger better
deals everybody on that Notre Dame staff and was like
(39:30):
they're not good enough for what I'm going to go
do at at at LSU, or they were like, we
don't really fool with you like that, we gonna stay.
So either one of those two things is true, and
neither one of them is good. Neither one of them
is good. So only Mike Denbrock coming with him, and
(39:52):
then Mike Denbrock leaving shortly after that is a sign
about what people who work with Brian Kelly think because
normally when coaches leave one job to go to the other,
they have multiple coaches come with them multiple and when
you don't, that's that's a sign. So that's the first thing.
(40:15):
Second thing is when he got up there with the
with that fake accent, that fake Louisiana accent, that was
a bridge too far, Like what are you doing, pal,
what are you doing? Oh hey, we're gonna We're gonna
go in here and I haven't even won all my
games yet, Like where'd you find this this Cajun accent? Ricky, Ricky, Bobby,
(40:42):
where did you find this Cajun accent? Water guy from
the water Boy? Shocking? And then the the third thing, well,
actually there there was actually four things. But the third
thing was when he first got to LSU, he fired
Tommy Moffins, who is a legendary strength and conditioning coach,
(41:04):
He was a strengthen conditioning coach at all three of
LSU's national championships in this century, all three and you
just give him the boot immediately. And now he's over
there at Texas A and M who just bulldozed you yesterday.
(41:24):
The strength and conditioning coach has a unique relationship with
the players. And when it is somebody who's been at
a institution as long as Tommy Moffatt hat, it does
not work because he has a connection to the players.
He's got a connection to the past players. And I
(41:46):
know this from going to the University of Oregon because
we had a strengthen conditioning coach, Coach Rad there for
a very long time. And then as soon as they
put coach coach Rad away, when Willie Taggert came, he
came and brought his guy. All hell broke loose with
the team players in the hospital, all of this stuff
because of a change in the strength and conditioning coach.
(42:08):
It did not go over well. And then the next
thing that he did is he fired g String. You're like,
who the hell is g String? George. It is Greg Stringfellow,
who was the equipment manager there, legendary equipment manager and
(42:34):
equipment managers have the pulse of the team. The players
go hang out in the equipment room. They have conversations
with the equipment manager and their staff that your coaches need.
So if you are a brand new coach bringing a
whole new staff into the building, you don't have eyes
and ears on your team properly because you have fired
(42:57):
the strength and conditioning coach, and you fired the and
you fired the next well, and you fired the equipment manager.
And Pete Thamil actually on a side note, just came
out and said that the terms of the negotiation of
the of the buyout are still not final yet. They
(43:20):
are still negotiating them, which is crazy because that the
terms of the separation are still being negotiating. Now, what
that says to me is is that you had Brian Kelly,
who is an ego man. That Brian Kelly was like,
mm oh, y'all want me gone? Oh cool? Cool, I'm
(43:42):
out there, I'm out, but I'm not gonna quit. Yeah,
I'll show up to work. I'm not gonna quit. But
you want me out right, okay, cool? Give me my money.
No no, no, no, no, no, I'm not taking a light
on you. Well, actually, you know what we can do.
You owe me fifty three million dollars. You owe me
(44:02):
seven hundred and forty thousand dollars a month until December
thirty first, two thousand and thirty one. Okay, So I
have offset language in my contract. So that means that
if I get a new job, that pays, because you
were paying me over ten million dollars. If I get
a new job and I get you know, and I'm
(44:25):
getting five hundred thousand dollars a month, then you only
have to pay me two hundred and forty thousand dollars
a month. So that's a good deal for LSU. But
since you want me gone, you know what, Actually, I'm
gonna give you a break. Just give me thirty five
million and no offset. This is the terms that they're negotiating.
(44:46):
I promise you that I'm sure of this because he
is probably frustrated and upset. And you know, he got
that that ego because he never takes blame for anything.
He blames the coaches, he blames the he blames everybody
except for him himself. Now in the last press conference,
I mean, well it starts with me. I mean I'm
(45:08):
more disappointed than anybody else. I'm I gotta be the
one that's gonna be better and all. He said, hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah, we don't we don't want to hear We
don't want to hear it. We do not want to
hear it. So so yeah, so that's the situation there.
And he's a head coach who I believe has put
(45:30):
himself in a situation where, uh, he is going to
be desirable to a lot of other schools. Now think
about the and and we're gonna get out of here
after this is I want you guys to pay attention
to how Brian Kelly well, who Brian Kelly is, and
(45:53):
the job openings that are open. So, would you hire
Brian Kelly at Oklahoma State? Yeah, he'll win there on
some some level. Would you hire him at Arkansas? Yes?
Would you hire him at Colorado State? Yes? U a B. Yes.
Would you hire him as stamp No? Would you hire
him at Virginia Tech? Probably? This is just the truth.
(46:13):
He's won everywhere he's been, but he also is not liked.
He will wear out his welcome. We're out his welcome
and Notre Dame were at as welcome at LSU. He's
a wear out your welcome kind of kind of kind
of guy. But he typically will produce results. But you
can't talk to people the way that you used to
and get away with it. We are in a whole
(46:34):
new era, whole new life, whole new situ situation. So
he is gonna be able to find a job. But
I wanted everybody to pay attention to this. There are
very few head coaches. Well, out of all these head
coaching jobs, baby, we've got LSU, Florida, Penn State, USLA,
Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Arkansas, Oregon State, UAB, Colorado State,
(47:01):
and then Auburn and Florida State may be on the way.
So and then if you take brit Key Clark Lee,
Kenny Dillingham, Jeff Brohm, and Kilane Sataki, Dan Lanning and
Marcus Freeman off the table, Mario Christobaul off the table, Now,
(47:23):
where are all of these head coaches going to come from?
That's the question. So you're gonna have teams just just
grasping at straws and being desperate and just hiring somebody
because it's going to win a press conference. So now
you're actually gonna have teams lose their offensive and defensive
coordinators for some of these head coaching jobs, and then
(47:46):
you're gonna have some like if Texas State, if JG.
Kenney gets a job, if Tulane gets a head coach,
if John summer Off gets a head coaching job, Ryan
Silverfield from Memphis, eck over there at New Mexico, all
those teams are now gonna need new head coaches. And
then you're gonna go all the way down to like
(48:07):
UC Davis at tim Plow or Montana's head coach or like.
This is going to be fallout at every single level.
This is going to impact recruiting because if you are
a kid, or you are a family of a kid
who is committed to somewhere, this is a fluid situation.
(48:28):
There's a kid, you know at the high school that
my kid would do at. He's committed to LSU. Now
who knows where's their legendary defensive backs coach. Where's he
gonna go? Tell you, stuff is tricky around here, but
you guys, we will continue to have updates. Make sure
(48:50):
that you like, subscribe, get notifications, Tell a friend about
the Unafraid show, and go back and look at the
recap from last night. Popping out here, in these streets,
peace out, Y
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