By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
Former LSU football coach Brian Kelly has been linked to a trio of Power Four head coaching vacancies.
Much like how LSU fired Kelly the day after an Oct. 25, 49-25 loss to Texas A&M at home last season, Maryland, North Carolina State and Baylor have all parted ways with veteran head coaches in the final days of October.
On3.com’s Pete Nakos named Kelly as an early candidate to lead Maryland or North Carolina State. LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker was also linked to the NC State job as was LSU offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. was to Baylor, which also may be eyeing struggling USC head coach Lincoln Riley should he be terminated soon.
Former NFL and NC State quarterback Phillip Rivers has also been linked to the NC State job. Rivers has been the head coach at St. Michael Catholic High in Fairhope, Alabama, since 2021.
Maryland fired Mike Locksley last Wednesday after a 2-5 start to his eighth season in College Park, Maryland. He posted back-to-back 4-8 seasons in 2024 and 2025 and leaves the program with a 39–54 overall record.
Kelly was asked about all three vacancies during an appearance on Sirius XM on Wednesday, and he started with the one that finds its home in the most competitive conference of the three.
“They’re all unique, right?” Kelly said. “ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference), Big 12, and the Big Ten. From a conference standpoint, the Big Ten obviously has proved itself to have that kind of appeal, right? With Maryland, it is a fertile recruiting area. There’s no doubt that DMV (Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia) area is a really good recruiting area. I think they’ve done great things in terms of updating facilities.”
NC State let go of Dave Doeren after 14 seasons with the program on Saturday. His firing came on the heels of a 31-28 loss to Stanford the night before that dropped his record this season to 3-4 and 1-3 in the ACC.
“North Carolina State, another great recruiting area,” Kelly said. “The ACC conference, other than Miami, with Clemson not being where they were before, it’s a shot right? I can win this thing at the ACC level, and I think that that’s what makes it very attractive as well as the geographical area.”
Baylor fired former LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda on Sunday. He was off to a 4-3 start to his seventh season but suffered back-to-back losses to TCU and Kansas after winning four straight. His Bears tenure ends with a 40-40 overall record.
“You’re going to have players at Baylor, and that’s an institutional commitment that they’ve made,” Kelly said. “So, you may say these are not the ‘blue chip,’ but they have the ability to be part of the playoffs each and every year. And they have the ability to contend within their league, and that’s what makes all of these jobs attractive in my opinion.”
Kelly is currently under contract as a college football analyst for CBS Sports. He is part of a three-man broadcast crew calling Mountain West games and makes weekly appearances on the studio show “Inside College Football.”
That salary cuts into the $54 million buyout LSU owes Kelly for firing him without cause just four years into a 10-year, $100 million contract given to Kelly by former LSU athletic director Scott Woodward.
Should Kelly accept a head coaching job, LSU’s financial burden toward that buyout could be cut significantly by Kelly’s new salary at his new coaching job.
Kelly, 65, is taking his first year off from coaching college football since 1982. The native of the Boston area took his first coaching job in 1983 as defensive coordinator at his alma mater, Assumption University in Worcester, Massachusetts. He had been a head coach from 1991-2025 at Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Notre Dame and LSU.
With the coaching carousel already turning and Kelly showing apparent interest in the opportunities, his return to the sideline could be as soon as next season.
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