Brian Kelly has secured one more victory with LSU. Or, rather, against LSU.
LSU informed Kelly in writing Wednesday that he has been fired without cause. The letter, which was sent to Kelly by LSU president Wayne Rousse, states that LSU will pay out Kelly’s contract in full. They made clear in the letter that Kelly has a contractual obligation to seek a new job.
Brian Kelly’s lawyer shares the letter sent by LSU president saying Kelly was fired without cause to @FOS.
— Amanda Christovich (@achristovichh) November 27, 2025
This means LSU admits it owes him the $53M buyout. pic.twitter.com/ex8fnHIL64
This means that LSU owes Kelly his full $54 million buyout.
Kelly had sued LSU on Nov. 10 over his buyout. The school had fired Kelly as their football coach on Oct. 26, a day after they lost at home to Texas A&M. Kelly said in his lawsuit that LSU told him he had been fired from his job. He later filed a lawsuit against LSU, alleging that the school was trying to find cause for the firing to avoid paying the money he was owed on his contract.
LSU sending the letter is their admission that they were wrong and that Kelly was fired due to poor performance, and not for some other reason that would allow them to skirt his buyout.
LSU offered Kelly two lump-sum payments to settle his contract. They first offered him $25 million with no offset language, and then offered him $30 million to be paid out in two installments. Kelly declined those offers. Instead, he is scheduled to receive $9 million annually until 2031. If Kelly finds a new job, whatever he earns would be offset against the $9 million per year he is owed.
For now, Kelly has won in the game of shenanigans LSU was trying to play. It’s clear that the school and government officials in the state were ticked off about the way the situation unfolded.
Kelly went 34-14 in four seasons at LSU and was fired amid a 5-3 start to the season.
