Perfect candidate. He has to be Zinns first choice.
Brian Kelly
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Kelly was a mess at LSU. He's also being paid 9 million a year to golf.
Brian Kelly is not coming to Rutgers. He'll be 65 years old next month and has more money than he can spend. Why would he want to start over with this dumpster fire? He's got nothing to prove.
All these coaches have bloated egoes and cannot collect enough money. Thats why
If he comes back, it’s not because of money. It’s because he loves to coach and still has the bug.
There is no reason to be on a sideline again except he still wants to coach.
It sounds like he does when you read his comments on the LSU game against Clemson. He said it’s hard to watch not because it’s LSU but because it’s the first time in decades he hasn’t been on a sideline. Reports are that him and Fisher are trying to get back in it. I don’t want Fisher but I’d be fine with giving Kelly a shot. Both made tons of money but why do they want to come back. They have the coaching bug and they’re not unique in that.
While he works tv he said he’s been going around and seeing how others run their NIL, have structured their football operation etc…gives the impression of someone trying to be ready.
Bielema (Illinois), Diaz (Duke), Mora (UConn) were all retreads who have done or did a nice job at hard to win places. Even old Mack Brown wasn’t terrible at UNC. No one is a guarantee but someone with the track record of Kelly is worthy of a shot.
He’s realistic as an option because if he really does have the bug then he can’t be picky. He won’t be on every list out there just like the guys mentioned above, plus he’s older. Look at an older Cignetti, only the losingest program in the country gave him a shot. His connection with Tate and Zinn also makes him a logical option.
All good points but I'd be surprised if he came here. I'm sure that there are other P4 schools he could go to where he didn't have to start from scratch.
Kelly obviously has a record that shows he was a very good coach, but he was on a downward trend and various factors have changed in the game that make his success more of an uphill climb. But add in the fact that he became a national punchline at LSU, where your president and AD just came from, and I can’t believe they’d touch him with a ten-foot pole.
They absolutely have to get this right. Brian Kelly would look like a shaky hire in Day One.
They absolutely have to get this right. Brian Kelly would look like a shaky hire in Day One.
A criticism of Kelly at LSU is that he was more of a distant CEO type and not a big daddy coach walking the field. Kelly never could find the right mix of coordinators. He tried letting coordinators run things but he had one bad coordinator hire (offense and defense) after another (and he overpaid).
"When Kelly entered his third decade as a head coach, he became less hands-on with the day-to-day operation, according to sources with knowledge of the program. Kelly operated the program somewhat from a distance, handling the media and the public-facing elements. "That's his M.O.," one former staff member said."
Five reasons Brian Kelly failed at LSU
Kelly's departure could be pinned on trouble with his staff, trouble fitting in or a mad scramble for Lane Kiffin.
www.espn.com
So if RU will be paying Schiano off, and then also paying Kelly enough to coax him away from his current 9 mil a year for doing nothing - what kind. of staff would want to come to RU and NJ? Kelly's DC was getting 2.5 million a year. Kelly wouldn't be scouring the Patriot League for coordinators
President and AD connection is a draw to at least have serious conversations between both sides.
I also don't think Kelly is not a good fit for RU. Plus, if he comes back, it's likely going to be for a more established program with a pass winning track record and the financial resources to support his ambitions. What we actually need is a young, super hungry, and somewhat proven head coach who isn't too expensive and can grow into the role. We need to view this as a 12-to-15-year project of finding the right coach, and stop trying to hit the jackpot with an older guy who is past his prime. We should find a coach who is solid with the X's and O's, give him 4-5 years to make it happen, and if it doesn't work, move on to the next guy until we find the perfect fit.
If you think about the same strategy worked with Schiano 1.0. It was too bad he left for the NFL in a year RU had a lot of talent and actually won 9 games with Flood. Also, sadly for Schiano he missed a huge opportunity in 2025 when he finally had a solid QB, WR, and RB. all he needed was just a good defense, which he normally delivers on but didn't.
My point is that we should stop making the same mistakes of trying to hire the big name who is passe his prime and look to identify and amazing young coach who is hungry for success. We do need to provide an NFL type structure to allow the coach to focus on coaching and not the administration craziness of running a B10 program.
If you think about the same strategy worked with Schiano 1.0. It was too bad he left for the NFL in a year RU had a lot of talent and actually won 9 games with Flood. Also, sadly for Schiano he missed a huge opportunity in 2025 when he finally had a solid QB, WR, and RB. all he needed was just a good defense, which he normally delivers on but didn't.
My point is that we should stop making the same mistakes of trying to hire the big name who is passe his prime and look to identify and amazing young coach who is hungry for success. We do need to provide an NFL type structure to allow the coach to focus on coaching and not the administration craziness of running a B10 program.
I'm okay with him being a CEO HC, what was Urban or even Cignetti. Neither was a coordinator but they know what they want and generally how to get it and they are involved when and where they need to be. I think UM was more involved with what he wanted to see in his offense and Cignetti seems quite involved with player evaluation and assessment.A criticism of Kelly at LSU is that he was more of a distant CEO type and not a big daddy coach walking the field. Kelly never could find the right mix of coordinators. He tried letting coordinators run things but he had one bad coordinator hire (offense and defense) after another (and he overpaid).
"When Kelly entered his third decade as a head coach, he became less hands-on with the day-to-day operation, according to sources with knowledge of the program. Kelly operated the program somewhat from a distance, handling the media and the public-facing elements. "That's his M.O.," one former staff member said."
Five reasons Brian Kelly failed at LSU
Kelly's departure could be pinned on trouble with his staff, trouble fitting in or a mad scramble for Lane Kiffin.
So if RU will be paying Schiano off, and then also paying Kelly enough to coax him away from his current 9 mil a year for doing nothing - what kind. of staff would want to come to RU and NJ? Kelly's DC was getting 2.5 million a year. Kelly wouldn't be scouring the Patriot League for coordinators
I'm also okay with coaches being involved with one side of the ball like some are but I'm fine with the CEO coach as well if I think that guy has good oversight and idea of how he wants things. Like an Ed Orgeron, not a fan and wouldn't want a CEO coach like that, despite his national championship but someone like Urban or Kelly I'm fine in the sense you can see from their track record they know what they want and what they're doing for the most part.
As far as money, BK would probably come potentially cheaper than other exactly because of his LSU contract where he's still owed like 50M over the next 5 years. Franklin and Rhule contracts were backloaded. Kelly could be potentially be had for less than them and backloaded so the front years can be lower when GS' contract is running its course over the next 3 years and then the last couple years would be just a reasonable BK contract. Give him 3 years and see how it works and if not 2 years might be left on the deal at more reasonable numbers.
As far as coaches, BK has hired coaches like Denbrock, Elko, Lea, Freeman, Baker etc..who have been good but also some lemons in there as well but haven't we seen a bunch of lemons too. He's got decades of experience and networking so you'd hope that would help in assembling a staff.
As far as recruiting, while he's doing tv if he's going around observing how people have set up their NIL and athletic operations maybe between that and Zinn they can set him up properly with a GM and such to help with personnel.
He's not a guarantee, no one is. That's one thing I'm glad that has finally trickled in the fanbase conscious. I often used to see slam dunk, sure thing etc.. terms being thrown around and now I think people realize there's no such thing. We all have our preferences of what we'd like to see but no one is guaranteed. That's why I say if the resume is worthy of shot I can be okay with a bunch of names. With a little diligence and some LUCK, hopefully you land on a solid coach.
Also I won't fall into despair if we end up with a lemon HC. Anything is possible, it could be another Ash, GS or something better. If it doesn't work, try again. Just don't chain and hamstring yourself with crazy contracts you get stuck in.
What big name passed his prime did we hire?
How did retreads Bielema, Mora, Diaz do at hard to win places? So I don't rule out anything.
I'm fine with names like Eck,, Monken, Huff, Kinne, Shanahan, Haines etc.. as well but I'm okay with Kelly too.
It's never a sure thing...you need a little luck in addition to the diligence.
I don’t trust anyone on this board to pick coach options
Agreed, and his assistants came out immediately in the press and detailed grievances which are potential red flags to anyone that wants to hire him at this point.
Well that’s okay because none of us will have that chance lol.
I highly doubt this. Yes, the money would be offset by the LSU contract, but I think Kelly's ego (as in many coaches) would get in the way. Him agreeing to "only" a $3, 4, 5 million/year contract when his peers are making multiple times that would play a part. Then there's the issue of actually coming to Rutgers and having to deal with the clean up in every aisle of the supermarket.
If there is a fair market value clause in his contract, LSU would likely challenge that he's not being paid market value since Greg was making $6m and look to not pay the remaining amounts due to him since he should be in the $8-10 million range.
Bielema and Brown initial contracts weren’t that high. Even Cignetti’s initial contract was like 4M.
Franklin and Rhule contracts are higher but were backloaded.
if BK wants to coach, he can’t be too picky about both destination and money. In the end he’ll still be making 9-10 million over the next 5 years whether we pay him 3, 4 or 5 million. All we would be doing is lessening LSU’s burden. We just have to pay him a reasonable salary.
Malzahn got a 5yr 11.5M initial contract at UCF after being fired at Auburn.
If a school wants to be little more fiscally prudent they can be but how often do we see that, almost never lol.
Not paying fair market value would be like paying him a dollar or few hundred thousand or whatever but I don't think paying in the low millions applies. P4 coaches on their initial contracts can get paid in the 3-5M range. That's perfectly fine imo, the question is more how often are ADs fiscally prudent to take advantage, not often. More often than not they throw money around like nothing, I take it as OPM syndrome. If it was their own money or business, I'd like to think they would be more sensible in their finances.
We need someone like Chesney. UCLA is very similar to Rutgers. They nailed it.
After the Schiano sitting debacle, this entire fanbase and donor class should sit this hire out.
Anyone but Greggy....
Similar to ABR (anywhere but Rutgers)
That said, it would be amazing to get a "name" coach to show CFB we are ready to compete and putting up $$ to make it happen. This would send a good message!
That said, I just don't think it would be guaranteed and will cost a lot of money. We are better off going to find someone like Chesney like @Caliknight said. Someone who has coaching experience and has won (no Coordinators!). We need lightning in a bottle.
Remember if Kelly is being whispered NJ.Com will send their entire staff to South Bend to investigate that photographer death. We need to be ready for that
Did not know the acronym but it's fairly clear in context. A derivative of ABR.
Harasymiak. I'm keeping an eye on UMass. Not just because they beat us. Because we were outmatched in every single way. If he can do that with 1/5 of the budget, he can do it at Rutgers. He's a NJ guy.
Disagree, we're talking about P2 head coach salaries not some lower levels. But this is all wasted effort since he's got too many red flags now and at 65 probably not what's needed as he will be looking to get out after 2-3 years.
I might be misremembering, but I recall he agreed to the UMass head coaching job from our DC job because he would like to run his own program, which we are still a "bigger" program after all if he wants the challenges along with it
He was a mess that was 20 games over .500 with a Heisman Trophy winning QB. LSU is a different universe as far as expectations.
I don’t think it matters if it’s P2 or not. That’s not some officially delineated thing for the market.
P4 vs the rest of the FBS I can see but not P2 vs the rest.
Regardless, I gave examples of hires in the B10 that were hired for 4M or so on their initial contracts. Cignetti, Bielema, Walters, Lebby all got about that much…those are SEC and B10 schools.
It’s crazy to think LSU would even fight it No don’t hire him and save us 15-20M, we want to save 25-30M instead and then the school moves on lol.
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Yep he was getting paid more to be our DC.
Defensive players developed under him. Our best defense in years was under him. Players respected him.
I know they're playing sacred heart right now but they're absolutely destroying them. I want to see how he does in the MAC.
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