LSU cans Brian Kelly, and the 2025 coaching carousel is officially crazy

Brian Kelly was a bad fit at LSU from the start, and by the end it had unraveled so completely that he had to go. In clips from Saturday's 49-25 loss in Tiger Stadium to No. 3 Texas A&M he can be seen spewing expletives at assistants and players, grabbing them by the jerseys or windbreakers, threatening their jobs, blaming everybody but himself.

Why would anyone want to work for this man, or play for him?

He fumbled the beginning with a weirdly faked accent and bizarre videos. After three Top 5 seasons at Notre Dame and a 92-39 record, he never lost fewer than three games in three full seasons in Baton Rouge, never finished higher than No. 12, with wins in Citrus, ReliaQuest and Texas bowls. An uninspiring person with uninspiring results. The Tigers were 5-3 so far in 2025, 2-3 in the SEC and already out of the playoffs.

A coach can be intimidating, demanding and ass-chewing if people respect you. Kelly didn't inspire fear or loyalty, just disillusionment, Saturday's loss emptied the stands in one of the most passionate venues in the sport.

The administration and boosters on the Bayou will take aim at all the best coaches in the game. All three of their previous head coaches, NIck Saban, Les Miles, Ed Orgeron, won national titles in their first four seasons. At 64, after a long career at Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, the Irish and LSU, Kelly is washed, so disappointing that LSU is paying $54 million to send him away.

The Tigers will come for Dan Lanning, Lane Kiffin and Marcus Freeman. They'll even try to lure Nick Saban out of retirement or ask him to head the search commitment. If they're paying a ridiculous buyout to eject the guy who couldn't win, they'll offer ridiculous millions to the guy who can.

Lanning isn't leaving but the fallout from the sheer number of high-profile jobs open in the game, LSU, Florida, Penn State, Va Tech, Arkansas, UCLA, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Oregon State, Colorado State, UAB, Kent State, will shake up staffs everywhere. Firing season isn't over. Hugh Freeze has a tenuous hold at Auburn. The NFL has just started letting coaches go.

Oregon has a tremendous staff and as these vacancies get filled and the salaries escalate Ra'Shaad Samples, Ross Douglas, Chris Hampton, A'Lique Terry, Will Stein and Tosh Lupoi will have opportunities to elevate and try their hand at running a program.

There will be turnover and departures. Bright, dynamic people can't be held down, particularly in a climate of chaos and escalating salaries. And rumors will fly. A cohesive plan, a cool head, and the intelligence to keep the main thing the main thing will be required to survive it.