Special Meeting About LSU’s Buyout Dispute With Fired Coach Brian Kelly Called For Friday

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

The $54 million dollar question may be answered Friday, or at least that or something less will be discussed.

The LSU Board of Supervisors on Thursday called a special meeting for 9:15 a.m. Friday on campus for “discussion of Brian Kelly” concerning the $54 million buyout his contract says he is owed.

Either that, or LSU wants to introduce a new football coach. But there is no mention of that in the Board’s alert to media.

So, was Brian Kelly fired for cause, fired without cause, or just be-CAUSE, which would be without cause, which IS what happened, regardless of LSU’s Causeway of Crap. Which LSU needs to Cut, if it wants Lane Kiffin, who sounded interested on Monday. https://t.co/7l3JHlIe02

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) November 12, 2025

Kelly and his lead attorney Bennett Speyer of Toledo, Ohio, filed a lawsuit on Monday, Nov. 10, against LSU seeking Kelly’s full, $54 million buyout after his firing by then-LSU athletic director Scott Woodward on Oct. 26 in the fourth year of a 10-year, $100 million contract. LSU then fired Woodward four days later in a move that could damage LSU’s effort to decrease Kelly’s buyout.

The suit filed in the 19th Judicial District of East Baton Rouge Parish came after LSU attorneys let pass a 5 p.m. deadline on Nov. 10 submitted by Kelly and team requesting LSU confirm it will “fulfill its contractual obligation” to pay the entire buyout to Kelly.

Kelly previously turned down settlement offers of $25 million, then $30 million.

LSU not answering that request on Nov. 10 meant LSU doesn’t wish to pay the full buyout, and it then said it wanted to fire Kelly with cause, which means it would not owe him the buyout. The original firing by Woodward had all the traits of one without cause, which meant Kelly would get the full buyout, or close to it. LSU also said Woodward wasn’t authorized to fire Kelly, although he had virtually unilaterally fired and hired other coaches at LSU in the past.

There had been media speculation via LSU’s side that LSU expected to get Kelly’s buyout down to $27 million via negotiations because of a clause in Kelly’s contract under the “Termination and Suspension” title.

The agreement may be terminated by LSU at any time, the contract states, for cause, which includes:

“Engaging in serious misconduct, which either displays a continual, serious disrespect or continual, serious disregard for the mission of LSU, brings employee into substantial public disrepute sufficient – at the discretion of LSU – in a manner sufficient to materially impair employee’s ability to perform his obligations, or constitutes moral turpitude and breaches his high moral and ethical standards applicable to him as a visible representative of LSU.”

The courts may have to decide a settlement if the parties do not, which could be addressed Friday at the board meeting.