Three straight losses and the departure of a superstar recruit has dramatically soured head coach Brian Kelly’s reputation among LSU fans, even with a temporary hush to the criticism with a win over Vanderbilt.
Kelly continued a five-year trend of losing the season opener with a loss to USC in September. After a home win against Ole Miss, things were looking up and playoff hopes were strong. This was followed with three straight, progressively worse losses and just last week, news that Bryce Underwood was decommitting and headed to Ann Arbor.
Kelly’s first two years showed promise. In his first year, he upset Alabama at home in what is now an iconic game in Tiger Stadium lore. In year two, he engineered the best offense in college football on the back of Heisman Jayden Daniels.
With Nick Saban winning a national championship in his fourth year and Les Miles in his third, optimism was high for 2024. LSU had a quarterback who was years in the making and defensive changes like new coordinator Blake Baker to make up for an abysmal 2023 group.
Now it’s late November and playoffs are entirely out of reach. Tiger fans sit at home as they see numerous SEC rivals flirting with the postseason.
Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt began with an LSU three-and-out, followed by the Commodores scoring a 63-yard touchdown on their first play. This quickly provoked “Fire Kelly” chants in the stadium.
“I think he’s complacent with what he has,” class of 2022 graduate Adam Brunner said. “I don’t know if he doesn’t feel he can get any more out of his players.”
With common frustrations like the underwhelming execution of a previously acclaimed offensive line, questions of Kelly’s coaching arise.
“I would say a lot of it is just the way he handles his players,” senior finance major Daniel Carter said. “It seems like they listen to what he says, but they don’t try to change it.”
Another throughline was an inability to establish the run, often resulting in struggling to convert on third-and-short situations. When Caden Durham began to change this, hope grew but was quickly quieted by a refusal to make him the dominant back.
“Every time he blames the coaches and preparation,” Carter said. “Every time there’s not a change.”
LSU has also struggled to stop mobile quarterbacks. Jalen Milroe of Alabama ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns and Marcel Reed of Texas A&M ran for 62 yards and three touchdowns.
But because Kelly’s previous seasons would have put LSU up for playoff contention in the expanded format, there’s at least some reason for optimism.
“I trust the Tigers to bounce back next year,” senior sports administration major Evan Scariano said. “There’s been lots of times we’ve had a down year and then bounced back really well the next year.”
But the loss of Underwood is a multiseason consequence.
“That is one of the most depressing things to happen in a while,” Scariano said.
Many students hated the outcome and Underwood’s hypocrisy, but understood the motivation of such a large contract.
“Bryce Underwood was big,” Carter said. “I think that was the last saving grace to keep [Kelly] here.”
Kelly was hired to LSU the same year Dan Lanning was hired to Oregon and a year before Deion Sanders was hired to Colorado.
Oregon sits comfortably at the top of the rankings with an undefeated record, and Colorado has quickly transformed into a winning program in just two years, forcing some to make comparisons and wonder about what could’ve been.
“Deion is a tough one. I’m not the biggest fan of his act,” Scariano said. “Now that they are winning, I would definitely be more open to it.”
The possibility and projected outcome is all theoretical, but LSU’s current outlook forces dreams of hypotheticals.
“Deion would be interesting,” Brunner said. “Deion I don’t think is complacent. Deion would say ‘You’re not doing great at receiver, get out.’”
Other fans just dream of what once was.
“Coach O was a bad coach, but he was a good hype man,” freshman business major Brandt Lorio said. “He could be a bad coach because everyone loved him. Brian Kelly doesn’t have that. He just sucks.”
Expectations of his fate vary fan to fan. Few are forgiving.
“I think if we lose to Oklahoma, he’s gone. I’m so serious,” Carter said.
Kelly signed his contract in 2021 with $95 million guaranteed. Firing him now would cost LSU around $60 million.
“If our record doesn’t turn around in the next two years, I don’t know how he could do a third,” Lorio said.
Missing an expanded playoff format with a new defensive coordinator and a long developing quarterback off of four ugly losses reasonably sparks speculations of firing, but a contract buyout seems unlikely.
Jimbo Fisher poses a valid counterargument. He was fired by Texas A&M last season, resulting in a record-setting buyout of over $75 million dollars – though it’s probably fair to consider Fisher’s tenure markedly worse.
“I think a three-game bad stretch, while it effectively tanked our season, I think firing him right now is a bit much,” Scariano said.
