There are already some high-profile college football head coaching jobs open. Penn State and Florida headline the list, followed by Arkansas, Virginia Tech, and Oklahoma State. There is more likely to come, but one coach who has seen his seat get scorching hot this weekend is Brian Kelly at LSU.
Leading third-ranked Texas A&M at home, 18-14, at halftime on Saturday night, LSU was dominated in the second half. They were dominated to the tune of being outscored 35-7 in what was a 49-25 blowout loss to fall to 5-3.
Tiger Stadium quickly became empty as the second-half rout was being poured on by the Aggies. That left a lot of questions surrounding Kelly’s future. Paul Finebaum of ESPN didn’t hold back on Sunday on Kelly’s future in Baton Rouge.
Paul Finebaum Questions Whether LSU Can Afford to Fire Brian Kelly
Entering the game, LSU had no room for error in terms of the 12-team College Football Playoff. Their SEC Championship Game hopes were dashed, but winning out and finishing at 10-2 in the SEC would have them CFP conversation. Not anymore, and Finebaum believes they need to move on from Kelly, regardless of his buyout.
“When a program says, ‘We can’t afford to fire him,’ then, you respond by saying what you just did: ‘Can you afford to keep him, though?’” said Finebaum on The Matt Barries Show. “Right now, I think that there’s more pressure on ‘Can you afford to keep him?’ I don’t know how you can explain it away.
“How do you explain away a 7-5 record when on Labor Day, Matt, a lot of people were saying on the network, I know I was sitting next to one, that LSU is the best team in the country. He left Notre Dame by saying, ‘I’m going to LSU to win a national championship.’ And Notre Dame played for a championship, and LSU hasn’t come close.”
Kelly’s buyout if LSU moved on from him today would be $53 million. Notre Dame played for a national championship last season, falling to Ohio State. LSU continues to struggle under Kelly just to get to the CFP.
Brian Kelly’s Situation is DEFCON 1, According to Finebaum
The seat is scorching hot for Kelly, and Finebaum believes that the recent results have left him in a DEFCON 1 situation at LSU.
“It is DEFCON 1 for Brian Kelly right now,” Finebaum said. “Losing and getting blown out for the second time now. Remember, last year in early November, it was Alabama. Now, it’s Texas A&M. You can’t let that happen at home. It’s inexcusable. It’s not accepted.”
LSU has four games remaining this season. Road games at Alabama and Oklahoma, sandwiched around home games against Arkansas and Western Kentucky. At least seven wins are likely for the Tigers this year, but will that be enough to save Kelly’s job?
If LSU opens up and the school moves on from Kelly, this is a job that would move ahead of some of the current openings to near the top of desirable jobs. It would be right behind Penn State and Florida now. This is setting up for a wild coaching carousel this cycle.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Paul Finebaum Questions LSU’s Ability to Make Major Move With Brian Kelly appeared first on Heavy Sports.