As the end of the 2024 college football season lies just one game away, people are already looking to 2025, and ESPN’s Paul Finebaum discussed which coaches could potentially be on notice for the upcoming campaign. One head coach he mentioned is the LSU Tigers’ Brian Kelly.

Paul Finebaum on Brian Kelly’s Future With LSU
Kelly has a 29-11 record in his first three years with the Tigers. In his first season, he ended with a 10-4 record and an SEC Championship Game appearance, though it culminated in a loss to Georgia. Since then, LSU hasn’t returned to a conference title game. In 2024, the team began with a loss but had six straight wins. However, it had three losses in a row thereafter and finished 9-4.
However, Finebaum doesn’t think Kelly will be in any trouble in 2025. As he said on his eponymous show: “I don’t think Brian Kelly is going to be in trouble because I think that he’s going to have a big year. I think Brian Kelly is going to beat Clemson in the opener and he’s going to be in the playoff next year.”
Kelly’s past comments from when he left Notre Dame for LSU, citing a need for better resources to win a championship, have recirculated. This is important to note since the Fighting Irish, now under the tutelage of Marcus Freeman, will be playing in the College Football Playoff National Championship game against Ohio State on Jan. 20.

Similarly, Finebaum had been more critical of Kelly in November after LSU lost four games and their ticket to the playoffs remained unpunched. He said he wasn’t following LSU’s season much. Reflecting on the game against Alabama where the Tigers lost 42-13 to the Crimson Tide, Finebaum discussed the state of the Tigers on “The Matt Barrie Show.”
“I was watching the Alabama game and watching the Auburn game, and I had to remember at about midnight what happened at LSU,” Finebaum said. “I assumed that LSU won because, otherwise, I would have had 15 texts about Brian Kelly. But it was hard. The good news is, he won the game. The bad news is, I don’t know how much interest there was as long as he won. That was all that mattered.”
However, given his recent comments, Finebaum has turned his opinion around on the LSU coach and expects great things.
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