LSU Staffers Reportedly Sound Off on Brian Kelly, Recruiting Issues, More After Firing

LSU staffers criticized former head coach Brian Kelly when speaking about his recent dismissal in a recent report by The Athletic's Bruce Feldman, Ralph Russo and Christopher Kamrani.

Kelly was fired last Sunday after a 5-3 start to his fourth season in Baton Rouge put on LSU on track to miss the second year of the expanded College Football Playoff.

After establishing himself as the winningest coach in Notre Dame history over 12 seasons in South Bend, Kelly signed a 10-year, $95 million deal with LSU to take over for Ed Orgeron in 2021.

Multiple sources within the LSU organization reportedly told Feldman, Russo and Kamrani that Kelly's coaching style hadn't been in a fit in Baton Rouge.

"He really stripped the culture of what this place is. You know this place is not regular, man," one LSU staff member told Feldman, Russo and Kamrani.

That same staff member also said: "He just lacks the authenticity. And I don't want to dance on his grave, like I see a lot of people doing, but you could almost tell that he cashed out here."

A separate, former staff member told Feldman, Russo and Kamrani former LSU coaches had tried to treat staff like family and that they "never saw" Kelly.

Feldman, Russo and Kamrani also wrote that a former LSU player said "many players on the team felt like they didn't have a relationship with Kelly" and that Kelly "didn't seem to know the first names of multiple players."

"Guys didn't feel like he meant what he said. Everyone could feel that in the building," that former player told Feldman, Russo and Kamrani. "It was just the style of coaching. If you don't truly know someone, you just see it all as a facade."

Current and former staffers also criticized Kelly's recruiting techniques at LSU when speaking with Feldman, Russo and Kamrani.

Feldman, Russo and Kamrani reported that Kelly's "lack of in-state ties" with Louisiana prospects was part of the reason the program re-hired senior associate AD for football administration Austin Thomas for his third stint with the program in January 2024.

"He's a decent enough guy, but I'll be honest, the effort just is not there, especially for what this place is and compared to what we're competing against. We always had to recruit around him," a current staffer told Feldman, Russo and Kamrani.

A former staffer meanwhile told Feldman, Russo and Kamrani: "At one point, I brought my phone over to him and said, 'Coach, I need you to talk to this kid.' He says, 'Make an appointment.' I said, 'An appointment? I got him on the phone right now. What are you talking about?'"

The staffer concluded, "He'll never talk to you guys. He doesn't even know the players' names."

Kelly has previously been criticized on the record for his relationships with people within the LSU program.

Former LSU offensive lineman Charles Turner told Russo and Feldman last November that players had to schedule appointments to speak with Kelly, and that he "never talked Xs and Os" with Kelly during two seasons as a starter.

Former LSU defensive back Matthew Langlois said Monday in a since-deleted post on X that he was "forced to medically retire" after suffering an ACL tear in 2023, and that he hadn't heard "a word" from Kelly following his injury.

Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger reported that Kelly's firing was decided after a meeting between donors, university leaders and athletic officials at the Louisiana governor's mansion last Sunday night.

Kelly's contract features a buyout cost of more than $53 million, per USA Today, although that final price is reportedly still being negotiated.

The pressure will be on the LSU Board of Governors, whom Louisiana governor Jeff Landry has said will be in charge of hiring the school's next football coach, to replace Kelly with a candidate who can help LSU retool into a playoff contender for the first time since Orgeron led his team to an undefeated season and national championship in 2019.