The Athletic has released the top 25 college football coaches of the 2000s. That’s when Urban Meyer made it to the list. He has been known for his not one, not two, but FOUR coaching stints. Meyer has donned coaching jerseys for Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, and Ohio State. He has helped lead the Florida Gators to not one but two national titles, landing second overall.
Now that he has switched to broadcasting for Fox Sports’ “Big Noon Kickoff,” he is one of the best people to review present college football head coaches. That’s when LSU Tigers’ Brian Kelly came under his radar. Kelly was brought to Baton Rouge to win national titles. But he hasn’t done that yet.
Turns out that the seat is turning hot for the LSU Tigers head coach. Analyst Gerald V Dixon had already rubbed salt on Kelly’s wounds. “The last three coaches at LSU, have all won National Championships. Nick Saban, Les Miles, even Ed Orgeron.” Maybe the Tigers counted on him after his Notre Dame stint. With the Fighting Irish, Kelly came up with a 113-40 record. It included a national championship game appearance in 2013 and two CFP appearances in 2018 and 2020. However, as soon as he stepped out of Notre Dame, Kelly started to struggle. As he is still struggling, Meyer is surprised at the longevity of Kelly’s stint in Baton Rouge. On the July 2nd episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd Show, host Colin Cowherd shared his lack of confidence about the 60-year-old Kelly. That’s when Meyer shared, “Brian Kelly, I admire him. We’re friends.”
The analyst continued, “We coached against each other. I visit his programs. He’s visited mine. To think that he’s still coaching. I didn’t see that happening. And then he saw an opportunity at LSU. And I’ll tell you this about Brian Kelly. He’s driven, and he wants that national championship. And you don’t move from South Bend. He did it for one reason, and that’s to go get that crystal ball. So I know what’s driving him. And he’s one of those guys when he pushes really hard, great things happen. So, yeah, I didn’t see that one happening. I didn’t see him coaching this long. But when he saw that opportunity, he showed up at LSU.” Back in 2016, Kelly’s 10-2 Fighting Irish were matched up against defending national champ and 11-1 Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.
Meyer’s Buckeyes went on to win that game, 44-28, which marked the start of the most miserable calendar year in football for Kelly. After this, Notre Dame finished 4-8 that season, and Kelly’s coaching star plummeted to the point where the damage from that campaign appeared impossible to clean up. Yet here we are, almost a decade later, with Kelly on the driver’s wheel of the LSU wagon. Through the years, Meyer and Kelly have maintained a cordial relationship. The former Notre Dame head coach even invited Meyer to spend a few days at Notre Dame during the 2011 spring drills as the main speaker at the annual Coaches Clinic. Earlier on an occasion, Meyer appreciated Kelly becoming the first one to win consecutive Division II national titles at Grand Valley State (2002-03). However, his clock is ticking in Baton Rouge.
Can Brian Kelly live up to his Year 4 ultimatum?
What’s the narrative that surrounds Kelly in 2025? Bud Elliott captured it right. “If Brian Kelly does not make it to the playoffs, we are going to see some rumblings like, ‘Hey, what are we doing here?’” The thing that makes Kelly’s seat even hotter is how he failed to make it to the playoffs in 2024, even after signing the nation’s best transfer class. Analyst George Wrighster further fanned the heat.
“LSU, this is a make-or-break year for Brian Kelly because he told us, ‘Judge me after three years into the program.’ After he dropped that fake Louisiana accent. But the reality is this is year four. And last year again, their defense was atrocious; it would make your eyes bleed.” Here we need to recall the 2024 stats for a better picture. The Tigers’ defense, as Wrighster called it, was “atrocious.” They held the 14th spot with 24.3 points per game in scoring defense, 12th in rushing defense with 140 yards per game. Amidst all these negative reviews, someone believes that Kelly can regain his lost charm.
That’s none other than ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum. Kelly has already gifted two 10-win seasons to Baton Rouge fans. His first year came with the Tigers finishing 10-4 and with a SEC West victory and competing in the SEC Championship Game. The next year, LSU had wrapped up a 10-3 win season, but without an SEC West win. However, the last season was disastrous at 9-4. For the fourth year, Finebaum shared, “I think 10-2 is a good mark.”
To achieve the turnaround, Brian Kelly can count on his weapon, returning quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. After all, like his head coach, the quarterback, too, has some unfinished business. As he said, “As I speak about all the time, my faith plays a huge role in my decision and things like that, and so you know, I feel like coming back, I just feel like I had unfinished business. I feel like the product that I put on tape wasn’t what I wanted to be, and it’s not what I wanted to leave.” Talk is over. The defining chapter begins for this gridiron duo.
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