Rex Ryan reveals moment he knew Brian Kelly was 'worst hire in history' at LSU

Brian Kelly has officially been fired by LSU, marking the end of his turbulent tenure in Baton Rouge. The move came as little surprise to some, including Josh Pate and Rex Ryan, who joined Get Up on ESPN to discuss what went wrong, and whether the Tigers made the right call.

First, Pate didn’t hold back when evaluating Kelly’s time with the program: “You know me well enough now to know I’m normally the one pumping the brakes on this, especially when tens of millions of dollars are required for someone not to coach anymore,” Pate said.

“It was my opinion that Brian Kelly checked out on aspects of the LSU job a while ago. I’m not saying he was asleep at the wheel. What I’m saying is, when it comes to the critical infrastructure of a college football program — recruiting, portaling, talent acquisition, staffing decisions — a lot of that Brian Kelly was on a beach in Florida for.”

Continuing, Pate added that LSU is one of the sport’s premier jobs, one that demands full investment, and Kelly wasn’t giving it his all: “How many jobs are there better than LSU in college football? I can count on one hand and don’t even need all five fingers,” he said. “You’ve got to be all in if you’ve got that job. … Les Miles did it and won a title. Ed Orgeron did it and won a title.

“Brian Kelly came down there and treated it as the final rung on this personal ladder of his. … He never embraced Louisiana. And now, Louisiana is done with him.”

On the other hand, Ryan was even more blunt, saying he knew it was a bad fit from Kelly’s very first appearance: “The very first time we saw Brian Kelly speak publicly was at that basketball game when he brought in — I mean, historically bad,” Ryan said. “To me, I thought he was done from that point. I thought everybody in that LSU community was like, ‘This is a phony man. Get him out of here.’ … I’m like, this is the worst hire in history. Talk about a guy that doesn’t fit.

Evidently, Ryan believes Kelly should’ve simply been himself: “You can get a guy from anywhere, but be yourself,” he said. “Come back and say, ‘Look, I gotta admit, I never had a crawfish in my life. Jambalaya? What the hell is that?’ … You’d be better off that way, being honest, than trying to say, ‘Hey, I’m part of you guys. I’m in there.’ No, you’re not. You’re not an alligator hunter. What the hell are you doing?”

All told, Pate responded by reinforcing that authenticity and regional connection matter as much as winning at LSU: “We’re used to people coming down and reeking of advice given to them by consultants, and that’s kind of what it felt like when Brian came down there,” he added.

“Nick Saban wasn’t from the South, but he leveraged Louisiana. Kelly didn’t do that. You’ve got to be either one or the other. You can’t be out on both and then expect LSU to embrace you.”

In the end, both agreed that Kelly’s failure to connect with the culture, perhaps just as much as his on-field record, sealed his fate in Baton Rouge. What’s next remains to be seen, but LSU is hoping for better times ahead with their next hire.