Among the many SEC coaches who will be under the hot seat this season is LSU Tigers’ Brian Kelly, who has not been able to bring success to Baton Rouge in his three seasons with the program so far. After joining LSU in 2022, Kelly led the program to 10-4, 10-3 and 9-4 seasons. And while these figures are good, being at LSU comes with heavy expectations.
On Sunday, college football analyst Josh Pate drilled into Kelly’s stay at LSU while talking about people identifying him as the “problem” and not the program.
“I think there’s the kind of pressure where people look at you and say, this program entirely is not the problem,” Pate said. “We think we’ve identified the problem, and maybe it’s just you. Is that fair? Maybe, maybe not. But that’s a unique kind of pressure that I don’t think anyone else in this league is under.”
Pate said that if Kelly’s team comes out swinging in Week 1 against Clemson, it will be the season where the head coach will be talked about in a positive light. Pate said:
“Now, if it goes sideways, he’ll be talked about every week. What if they go pop Clemson 30–17 in Week One, and they get off to a hot start, and they’re like a one-loss team headed into Tuscaloosa in November? Then Brian Kelly is the talk of the league as well, but for much different reasons.”
However, if it goes sideways on the onset, Pate fears people will come after his job.
“So, Brian Kelly and LSU will be in the spotlight,” Pate added. “They’re expected to do big things, and if they do, it will validate Brian Kelly’s existence as the LSU head coach. And if they don’t, then it will validate people who think he’s a fraud. No matter what, he’s going to be talked about a lot.”
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Josh Pate on Brian Kelly’s LSU matchups in 2025
LSU will have some important upfront to begin the college football season. Though they have a returning quarterback in Garrett Nussmeier, who is being seen as the Heisman favorite for the next season, if the Tigers miss crucial games early on, their season will be over quickly. Josh Pate also talked about the program’s schedule.
“They believe they’ve filled the holes, but you better be right because this is not a team that has started hot,” Pate said. “And they play Clemson, Florida, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M before Halloween. So they’ve got several loseable games before Halloween. They’ve got the ‘Bama game after that.”
LSU will open its regular season against No. 4 Clemson at Memorial Stadium on Aug. 30. In the next three games, they have three non-conference matchups against Louisiana Tech, Florida and Southeastern Louisiana (FCS). One of their most challenging SEC road trip will be against Ole Miss. The game in Tuscaloosa against Alabama will be another game where they’ll need to outperform a good program.
Read More: Former LSU Star Puts Brian Kelly On the Hot Seat, Claims ‘Fan Base Is Going To Turn Quickly’
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