As the clock ticked down during the final minutes of LSU vs. Texas A&M, Brian Kelly listened to chants of “Fire Kelly” rain down from the fans. Those who weren’t chanting were already leaving the stadium. Saturday night was LSU’s second loss by three or more possessions in Death Valley in the last two seasons. College football fans have anticipated this moment for a couple of seasons now, and the moment has officially arrived. Brian Kelly has been fired.
Kelly finishes his LSU career with the following resume:
Overall Record: 34-14
SEC Record: 19-10
Record vs. Ranked Opponents: 5-10
Record vs. Top-10 Opponents: 4-4
Average Recruiting Ranking: 8.5
The LSU job is going to attract significant attention. The talent ceiling at LSU is virtually limitless. Nick Saban, Les Miles, and Ed Orgeron combined to sign 11 top-5 recruiting classes, including 6 top-3 classes. This recruiting machine seemed to stall under Brian Kelly. Kelly finished inside the top 5 once. He recruited two classes at 10th or lower, and his fifth class is currently on pace to finish outside the top 10 as well.
The coaching hire for LSU needs to be a coach who lives and breathes college football. The LSU brand is among the most prestigious in American sports. Kids across the United States dream about playing for the LSU Tigers.
Potential Head Coach Candidates
Jon Sumrall (+150)
Sumrall is college football’s newest up-and-coming coach. His reputation began with his success at Troy. He coached the Trojans for two years, posting a 23-4 record. After Troy, Sumrall found himself at Tulane. The Green Wave went 9-5 in Sumrall’s first season, with three losses coming to Kansas State, Oklahoma, and Florida. Now, in 2025, Sumrall has Tulane sitting at 6-1 and in second place in the American Athletic Conference.
Sumrall’s overall coaching record comes to 38-10. He won the Sun Belt Conference twice and was awarded Sun Belt Coach of the Year in 2022. He would bring southern ties back to the position for LSU, having lived in Texas and coached in Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. LSU fans’ biggest concern will be the hiring of a coach from the G5. Is Jon Sumrall simply the next Billy Napier?
Joe Brady (+200)
Brady is the wildcard candidate on this list. He’s one of the fastest-rising coaches in modern football history, although he has limited college football experience. Just a decade ago, Brady was a graduate assistant at Penn State. He’s now the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, and he’s one of the driving forces behind Josh Allen’s 2024 MVP award. Brady’s ties to LSU stem from his season as LSU’s passing game coordinator, when he helped lead the 2019 LSU Tigers to the national championship. Brady was the brain behind Joe Burrow’s 5,600-yard and 60 TD season.
The biggest questions around Joe Brady will be his commitment to the college football life. How well does he handle recruiting, booster meetings, the transfer portal, etc.? Brady received credit for recruiting two players during his one year at LSU —4-star WR Koy Moore and 5-star TE Arik Gilbert. In terms of schematics and game planning, Brady is the strongest candidate on this list. The questions around everyday college football responsibilities will loom until proven otherwise.
Lane Kiffin (+400)
Kiffin is the most popular candidate for the current job openings. You’ll find Kiffin’s name mentioned for the LSU, Florida, and Penn State job openings- and for good reason. At Ole Miss, Kiffin is now 51-19. His overall college football coaching record sits at 112-53. As a coordinator, Kiffin’s resume challenges any coordinator in college football. He won a national championship as a passing game coordinator at USC and as an offensive coordinator at Alabama. He also won three SEC championships and three Pac-10 championships as a coordinator.
LSU fans’ questions for Kiffin will revolve around his willingness to recruit high school talent. At Ole Miss, Kiffin has gathered most of his talent through the transfer portal. Players such as Jaxson Dart, Trinidad Chambliss, Tre Harris, Jordan Watkins, Princely Umanmielen, Jared Ivey, and Walter Nolen were all brought to Ole Miss via the transfer portal. Regardless, Kiffin’s game-planning, scheming, and play-calling abilities are tough to pass up.
These are likely the three candidates that the job will come down to. Betting odds favor both Sumrall and Brady over Kiffin, though Kiffin seems the most likely candidate in media circles. However, if one of these three is not the choice, here’s a list of dark horse candidates to keep an eye on.
Eli Drinkwitz, HC, Missouri
Jeff Brohm, HC, Louisville
Clark Lea, HC, Vanderbilt
Brent Key, HC, Georgia Tech
Kenny Dillingham, HC, Arizona State
