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Brian Kelly was fired a few weeks ago by LSU as the team’s head football coach (we think). The university is currently on the hook for the remaining $54 million left on his contract (though that may change). Since then, Brian Kelly says he has been trying to find a new job, but Louisiana State University’s “conduct” is making that “nearly impossible.”
Since being let go, LSU has claimed it did not “formally terminate” Kelly as its football coach. Which is weird since he hasn’t been coaching the team ever since he wasn’t “formally terminated.” The school now says it wants to fire Kelly “for cause” and avoid paying him a buyout worth nearly $54 million. Again, he hasn’t coached the team in weeks. LSU also claims then-athletic director Scott Woodward did not have “the authority to terminate Coach Kelly and/or make settlement offers to him.” Woodward was fired four days after he did/did not fire Kelly.
Last Friday, the LSU board of supervisors authorized new university president Wade Rousse to send Brian Kelly a formal notice of termination. Again, he hasn’t coached the Tigers since October 25. So, if he hasn’t been fired yet, why hasn’t he been coaching?
If the LSU situation with Brian Kelly sounds confusing, that’s because it is
All of that confusion is why attorneys for Brian Kelly recently sent a letter to LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry and John H. Carmouche, a member of the board of supervisors.
“As you know, there is absolutely no basis to LSU’s contrived positions that Coach Kelly was not terminated or that cause existed for such termination,” reads the letter, which was obtained by ESPN. “LSU’s conduct, including its failure to confirm that Coach Kelly was terminated without cause and its unsupported allegations of misconduct on the part of Coach Kelly, has made it nearly impossible for Coach Kelly to secure other football-related employment. LSU’s conduct continues to harm Coach Kelly, particularly during this critical hiring period.”
LSU declined to comment on the matter. Meanwhile, as ESPN noted, there are currently nine head coaching vacancies in the power conferences, with more perhaps to come. The way things currently stand, Brian Kelly probably isn’t wrong when he claims the situation with LSU makes it “nearly impossible” for him to get any of those jobs.