Less than 24 hours after a 49-25 loss to Texas A&M, LSU informed coach Brian Kelly that the program would be moving on from him and offensive coordinator Joe Sloan.
Kelly joined a long list of coaches who have been dismissed from their duties mid-season. According to Georgia football coach Kirby Smart, “It’s the world we live in.”
Smart was asked about the coaching change on Monday, days ahead of Georgia’s rivalry game against Florida, which fired coach Billy Napier after a disappointing start to its season.
“At this time in the middle of the season, I think there’s so much built around the playoffs,” Smart said. “It’s like everything is boom or bust, and you can’t have a normal season.”
Smart is the second-longest tenured coach in the SEC, hired to lead the Bulldogs in 2015. He’d held various roles up until that point, administrative assistant at Georgia in 1999 and running backs coach in 2005, and three under Nick Saban, at LSU (2004), the Miami Dolphins (2006) and Alabama (2007-2015).
He’s familiar with the expectations associated with a coaching job at LSU.
“I know it’s high expectations,” he said. “I coached at LSU, and a guy once told me, ‘That office you’re in, that’s not your office. You’re borrowing it.’ And I knew right then, if you didn’t win, you wouldn’t be there long.”
Kelly led the Tigers to a 34-14 record and took LSU to the 2022 SEC title game. LSU did not qualify for a College Football Playoff game in three years under Kelly — a particularly harsh blow given the new 12-team format.
Kelly was in his fourth season of a 10-year contract worth about $100 million, leaving LSU with a buyout that could cost more than $52 million. Athletic director Scott Woodward said the school and Kelly are negotiating towards a fair solution for both parties.
LSU’s dismissal of Kelly marks the third coaching vacancy in the SEC. Florida will search for Napier’s successor in the offseason, and Arkansas parted ways with Sam Pittman in late September.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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