LSU is widely expected to announce Brian Kelly hire this week
Notre Dame could be looking for a new football coach as early as Tuesday, according to reports.
Yahoo!’s Pete Thamel is reporting that Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly could be announced as LSU’s next head coach on Tuesday. The Tigers fired Ed Orgeron earlier this season, just two years after he won a National Championship.
Sources: LSU is expecting to hire Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly as the school’s next head coach. An announcement could come as early as tomorrow.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 30, 2021
That report has been confirmed by The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy and ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.
Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly will be hired as coach at LSU, source told @ActionNetworkHQ. 1st reported by Yahoo
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 30, 2021
Breaking: In a shocking move, LSU is set to hire Notre Dame's Brian Kelly as its next head football coach.
First reported by Yahoo! Sports, confirmed by @ESPNRittenberg. pic.twitter.com/cDDk3hUNLa
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 30, 2021
This would end a 12-year run at Notre Dame for Kelly. He’s been with the Fighting Irish since 2010 and is their winningest coach in program history.
According to The Athletic’s Matt Fortuna, others around the Notre Dame program are “blindsided.”
To say that Notre Dame coaches, admins and boosters I have spoken with in the last 15 minutes have been blindsided is an understatement. An absolutely shocking development in South Bend. https://t.co/Lnwk06Eqfu
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) November 30, 2021
This move is especially unusual because the Fighting Irish are still in contention for a College Football Playoff berth. Notre Dame could be ranked as high as No. 5 when the updated rankings are released on Tuesday night.
Kelly has spent the last couple weeks talking up Notre Dame’s résumé as a Playoff contender. He’s led the team to an 11-1 campaign and five straight seasons of 10+ wins.
Just last week, Kelly implied it would take an offer of “$250 million” to get him to take another college job. At the time, he was thought to be a candidate for USC’s vacancy.
Brian Kelly asked if he'd ever leave Notre Dame, aside from retirement: “No. I mean, look, I think Mike Tomlin had the best line, right? Unless that fairy godmother comes by with that $250M check, my wife would want to take a look at it first. I'd have to run it by her.”
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) November 22, 2021
Potential candidates to replace Kelly could include defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman, Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell and Iowa State coach Matt Campbell.