It’s not always the head coaches or 5-star recruits that make the biggest offseason moves. Sometimes, it’s the quiet power players in the athletic department. Just a month ago, the Tigers lost Jake Sugarman from the LSU football recruiting and scouting operations who bolted for a Big Ten gig out West at UCLA. And right now, one of Brian Kelly’s most trusted allies at Baton Rouge may be slipping through his fingers.
Keli Zinn isn’t just any staffer. She’s the right-hand woman for Brian Kelly at LSU and the Big Ten wants her bad. On July 27, ESPN’s Pete Thamel dropped an update on X regarding Rutgers’ new target. Per sources, “Rutgers is targeting LSU Executive Deputy AD / COO Keli Zinn as the school’s new athletic director.” She directly oversees LSU football and has become a cornerstone of the Tigers’ behind-the-scenes power structure since arriving in 2022. So what makes her such a hot commodity?
Sources: Rutgers is targeting LSU Executive Deputy AD / COO Keli Zinn as the school’s new athletic director. Zinn brings strong football experience, as she’s the direct report for football at LSU. pic.twitter.com/Ijv7X555hK
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) July 27, 2025
Keli Zinn’s role spans across all 21 varsity sports at LSU from football and gymnastics to strategic initiatives and capital projects. She helped renegotiate the Tigers’ multimedia rights deal, pulling off a whopping 21% increase in value. And if you’re wondering about the profit, Brian Kelly’s football team recorded its highest season ticket sales since 2017 with 71,250 sold last season. But there’s more.
If you’re familiar with “The Money Game” docuseries, it’s Keli Zinn’s relentless drive that played a pivotal role in brokering this LSU’s lucrative access deal with Amazon Prime Video. This NIL-focused documentary series put the Tigers at the forefront of college athletics storytelling. But her experience goes much further than her stint with Brian Kelly at Baton Rouge. As Pete Thamel added, “She worked at WVU prior as the school’s deputy AD from 2016-22 and also did a stint as the interim athletic director there. She has also worked at Maryland and in the Big East conference.” She brings not just experience but a proven Big Ten-compatible pedigree. And that brings us to Rutgers.
Brian Kelly’s loss may be Rutgers’ pacifier
If the reports are true, Keli Zinn won’t be walking into a calm situation at Rutgers. She’d be parachuting into chaos but it’s the kind of chaos she was built for. According to NJ Advance Media, the school just dumped TurnkeyZRG, the search firm it hired three months ago to find a permanent AD. That came just a week after top candidate Brian Lafemina withdrew.
Since Pat Hobbs’ sudden resignation last August, Rutgers has endured 344 days of limbo, multiple interim ADs, and a scandal-clouded past. Hobbs’ tenure ended amid controversy over an alleged improper relationship with a now-fired gymnastics coach, Umme Salim-Beasley. But here’s where it gets interesting.
Keli Zinn reportedly met with the chair of the Rutgers Board of Governors Amy Towers. She also has a direct line to the top. Rutgers’ new president, William Tate, knows her well. He hired her at LSU and was her boss for three years. That kind of relationship doesn’t just happen. It’s a pipeline move, and if Tate gets his way, Zinn will be walking into New Brunswick with more power than any AD in recent Rutgers memory. And just like that, LSU may be about to lose its most powerful off-field figure not named Brian Kelly.
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