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Two weeks after firing Brian Kelly, LSU remains locked in a bitter standoff with its former football coach over his massive buyout terms.
Kelly’s deal — a whopping 10-year, $95 million contract — entitles him to 90% of his remaining salary through 2031. That puts LSU on the hook for close to $54 million in monthly payments over the next seven years.
The Tigers tried offering Kelly a compromise: a smaller but immediate lump sum payment that would save the program millions long-term while removing mitigation language requiring Kelly to offset LSU’s payments with future coaching income. It seemed like a win-win, but negotiations have hit a wall.
According to documents obtained by the Baton Rouge Advocate, Kelly’s legal team sent a clear message to new athletic director Verge Ausberry on November 5. They expect LSU to pay “full liquidated damages” — all $54 million.
Kelly initially showed willingness to talk after his firing. However, he quickly rejected offers of $25 million and later $30 million presented by then-AD Scott Woodward and executive deputy AD Julie Cromer.
Talks completely stalled after Woodward’s own firing, which followed Louisiana governor Jeff Landry’s fiery press conference that sent shockwaves through the program.
The situation has turned ugly.
While Kelly’s attorneys stated he remained “open to additional offers,” they imposed a November 10 deadline at 5 p.m. for resolution. Without written confirmation of his termination terms by that time, Kelly would “pursue all available legal remedies.”
True to his word, when Monday evening’s deadline passed, Kelly filed a lawsuit seeking judgment that LSU fired him without cause — which would force the school to pay the full $54 million buyout. According to court documents obtained by ESPN, Kelly claims LSU called him earlier Monday with a stunning new position: he had never been “formally terminated” and the school was now looking into firing him for cause.
If you’re wondering how LSU can argue this when Kelly was publicly fired and didn’t coach against Alabama last week, the school is apparently claiming former AD Scott Woodward “did not have the authority to terminate Coach Kelly and/or make settlement offers to him.” Conveniently, Woodward himself was fired just days after Kelly.
Kelly’s lawsuit forcefully challenges all of LSU’s positions and seeks legal judgment to enforce the school’s contractual obligations for his without-cause termination.
“Coach Kelly’s representatives informed LSU that Coach Kelly disagreed with each of LSU’s new positions, including (i) the idea that he somehow had not been terminated, (ii) that the then-Athletics Director Woodward was not acting with authority (in a meeting attended by several LSU athletics officials, including the current Athletics Director Ausberry), and (iii) that there were any grounds for termination with cause (or that LSU could manufacture any such grounds after his termination), thus necessitating this action.”
This messy divorce has thrown LSU athletics into complete chaos. One of college football’s most coveted jobs now comes with a giant warning sign — potential coaches will surely wonder what headaches await them in Baton Rouge. The school’s attempt to claim its former AD lacked authority to fire Kelly, while trying to retroactively dismiss him for cause, won’t exactly ease those concerns.
Kelly was in his fourth season with the Tigers when he got the axe on October 26. He’d compiled a solid 34-14 record but never reached the College Football Playoff. The final straw came after an embarrassing 49-25 home loss to Texas A&M, where LSU collapsed in spectacular fashion, getting outscored 35-7 in the second half.
With interim coach Frank Wilson at the helm, the Tigers fell to 5-4 after a 20-9 road loss to Alabama last Saturday. LSU hosts Arkansas this weekend as the program tries to salvage what’s left of its tumultuous season.
