Brian Kelly is feeling the heat in Baton Rouge. After three seasons at LSU, the Tigers’ championship dreams remain unfulfilled, and patience is wearing thin. College football analyst Bud Elliott of 247Sports has even suggested that if Kelly fails to bring home a national title in 2025, his time with the program could come to an abrupt end.
Brian Kelly Needs To Get a National Championship Victory
If Kelly falls short again in 2025, he’ll make the wrong kind of history. Kelly will become the only LSU head coach in the past century to never win a national title.
It’s a stark contrast to his strong debut season, where he stunned many by leading the Tigers to a 10-4 record and an SEC Championship Game appearance.
Kelly backed up his impressive debut with another solid 10-3 campaign, though he fell short of another SEC title game appearance. However, the momentum took a hit in 2024 when LSU slipped to 9-4, raising doubts about his ability to take the Tigers to the promised land.
LSU isn’t known for patience when it comes to head coaches. Ed Orgeron, the Tigers head coach before Kelly, had finished 15-0 with a championship run in his third year at the LSU in 2019. However, he was shown the door after going 5-5 in 2020 and 6-7 in 2021.
Even the 12-year tenure of Les Miles faced a stoppage when he finished two seasons with only single-digit victories and started his final season 2-2. So, many believe that if Kelly doesn’t win a championship for the Tigers soon, he might have to see the same fate as his predecessors.
“I think a ton,” Elliott said. “I don’t really think they’re going to fire Brian Kelly, but if they don’t have a good season again, I could certainly see the argument for it, right?”
“This is kind of the last chance” 👀🔥@BudElliott3 and @CoachGVDixon think the seat is HEATING UP for Brian Kelly at #LSU pic.twitter.com/dlXbUlEat5
— 247Sports (@247Sports) February 18, 2025
“They wasted two years of (Jayden) Daniels, you wasted a year of (Garrett) Nussmeier, who, if he had gone pro, had certainly been a top 100 pick, if not maybe a second or maybe even a first-round type pick. So you get him back, this is kind of the last chance.”
Elliot also spoke about how if the Tigers used the transfer portal last year as they did in 2025, Kelly wouldn’t find himself in such dire straits. Still, he remains hopeful about the future of LSU under their 63-year-old head coach.
“I don’t really love what they have in their quarterback room,” Elliott continued. “Obviously, their recruiting class fell apart a bit, so they had a bunch of extra money left over and were like, ‘Huh, maybe we should spend it on the transfer portal.’ And indeed, they finally did. I think they should have done it last year, but I guess better late than never,” he added.
“If Brian Kelly doesn’t make the playoff, I do think you’ll probably see some rumblings of like, ‘Hey, what are we doing here?’ And he’s really not doing better than Notre Dame is, certainly.”
Still, not all hope is lost since Kelly is going into the season with a new roster If Nussmeier lives up to the hype, he could bring in a championship for the program in 2025.
College Football Analyst Predicts Kelly To Make It to the CFB Playoff
Kelly is no stranger to success. Coaching since 2012, he led Notre Dame to a national title game appearance, only to fall to Alabama. He later guided the Fighting Irish to two College Football Playoff berths, though both runs ended in the first round.
Despite those setbacks, Kelly knows how to win. His 195 career wins put him just seven shy of Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz (202), the only active coach with more victories.
Brad Crawford of 247Sports believes that the Tigers will secure a playoff berth in 2025 and even had them going 10-2 overall and 6-2 in the SEC.
KEEP READING: Can Garrett Nussmeier Win the Heisman in 2025?
“Brian Kelly already guaranteed a playoff berth for 2025,” Crawford wrote. “In fact, the Tigers could roll into Norman, Oklahoma, inside the top five for the regular-season finale before suffering a bit of a surprising loss to the Sooners.
“Still, beating Clemson on the road in Week 1 and snapping their lengthy opening-weekend losing skid will come in handy with the selection committee.”
Now, all eyes are on Kelly as he heads into a make-or-break 2025 season. Will he finally bring LSU the championship they crave, or will he become the next coach shown the door?
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