LSU has hired former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly to lead the Tigers heading into 2022. This comes after Ed Orgeron was let go following the 2021 regular season. Orgeron led the Tigers to a 6-6 record this year and ended with a 27-24 upset win over then No. 15 Texas A&M. LSU athletic director Scott Woodward made one of college football’s home run hires in the coaching carousel with the addition of Kelly.
LSU Hires Brian Kelly As Next Head Coach
Kelly compiled a 92-39 record in South Bend over 12 seasons. This year, Notre Dame is 11-1 with a New Year’s Six Bowl invite coming over the weekend. Ironically, while Kelly prepares to leave, Notre Dame still has an outside chance at the college football playoffs. He led the Fighting Irish to one BCS National Championship berth in 2012 and a College Football Playoff appearance in 2018. While the Irish have no conference championships or national titles, Kelly consistently won on the field and proved he belongs at the top of the coaching ranks. Moving to LSU will bring forth the opportunity to win consistently and recruit at a higher level than what he had in South Bend.
According to The Athletic, Kelly’s deal at LSU is for 10 years and over $100 million with incentives. He will make roughly $15 million per year to lead the Tigers. The $15 million annually would put Kelly as the highest paid coach in the SEC.
Potential Staff Changes
With a new coach comes a potentially new and revamped coaching staff. Kelly will likely keep running backs coach Kevin Faulk and cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond. Aside from that, the Tigers could have new positional coaches and coordinators for the 2022 season. Offensive coordinator Jake Peetz might not have been retained regardless of who the next head man was going to be. However, defensive coordinator Daronte Jones should be given another chance to prove himself.
Kelly will assemble a top notch staff that will best suit the program and the direction he will lead in. Could a few current Notre Dame coaches be on the move to LSU as well? Only time will tell if Kelly will bring any of his current assistants.
