Brian Kelly out at LSU -- Top candidates, transfers, recruits - ESPN

For the third consecutive Sunday in October, a major college football coaching job has opened, and LSU is the biggest of them all.

Brian Kelly is out midway through his fourth year at LSU, and a night after his third loss of the 2025 season. LSU was blown out 49-24 by Texas A&M, which scored 35 unanswered points to win in Tiger Stadium for the first time since 1994. An LSU season that began with national championship aspirations and a road win against Clemson — the Tigers' first season-opening win under Kelly — sidetracked very quickly with consecutive losses to Vanderbilt and Texas A&M.

Kelly, who stunningly left Notre Dame for a chance to win his first FBS national championship, never even made the College Football Playoff at LSU. He won a division title in his first season in 2022 but never finished higher than 13th in the final CFP standings. Kelly is the first LSU coach to not win a national championship there since Gerry DiNardo, whose tenure ended after the 1999 season. Kelly finishes his Tigers tenure at 34-14, having lost multiple games in SEC play in all four seasons on the Bayou.

LSU's decision throws another surprising twist into an incredibly active coaching cycle. Although Penn State and Florida are both A-list jobs, LSU is in a tier of its own. In a state rich with talent, LSU is the only Power 4 program. The fact that three very different coaches — Nick Saban, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron — won national championships there speaks to the job's potential and overall excellence.

Is it a perfect job? No. The politics and occasional dysfunction around LSU are baked in. Athletic director Scott Woodward's future is also in question after the Kelly hire failed so miserably and led to a $54 million buyout. But the