Paul Finebaum evaluates how hot Brian Kelly's seat is at LSU

On Saturday, head coach Brian Kelly and LSU suffered their third loss in their last four outings, falling 49-25 to Texas A&M. Tigers fans weren’t shy to express their frustrations, chanting “Fire Kelly” during the blowout loss.

Kelly is in his fourth season at LSU and is yet to lead the program to a College Football Playoff appearance. Now, it appears the Tigers will be missing out on the CFP again. During an appearance on The Matt Barrie Show on Sunday, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum weighed in on Kelly’s job status.

“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.

“… I don’t know what is happening behind the scenes. I know what Brian Kelly said after the game, and quite frankly, it really doesn’t matter. He handled it better than some of the meltdowns that he’s had previously. But it’s a bad look. There’s no sugar coating it. LSU fans are hopping mad, and now it’s a matter of what Scott Woodward does. There is an interim president. There’s currently five finalists to take over. So that’s always a complication. But sometimes when the most important topic of the day is college football, everything else takes a backseat, and this will be a fascinating week.”

If LSU fires Brian Kelly at the end of this season, it will owe him $53 million. The school hired Kelly in 2021, signing him to a 10-year, $95 million deal that also included incentives. If the school parts ways with Kelly, it will be forced to pay the second-largest buyout in college football history.

Nonetheless, Tigers fans are growing impatient, and they’re not alone. After LSU’s loss on Saturday, Louisiana governor Jeff Landry tweeted at LSU’s athletic department, suggesting they rethink raising ticket prices after the Tigers’ loss to the Aggies.

“You understand, Matt, how political that state is, and the capital is right down the street from Tiger Stadium. And, that was a body blow to this tenure of Brian Kelly because everything is intertwined down there,” Finebaum said.

In the loss, LSU amassed just 278 yards of total offense. The team particularly struggled in the ground game, where they logged 2.2 yards per carry. Sitting at 2-3 in conference play, Brian Kelly could be coaching with his job on the line for the remainder of the season.