Brian Kelly won't be coaching this fall, but he has reportedly landed a job for the 2026 college football season.
LSU fired Kelly during the 2025 season after a blowout loss to Texas A&M. He finished his time in Baton Rouge with a 34-14 record. Things got so rough for LSU's football team that boosters were willing to eat his $54 million buyout just to get Kelly out of town.
As part of Kelly’s buyout, he had to make “good-faith, reasonable and sustained efforts to obtain” a new job.
Well, Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports is reporting that Kelly will be a color analyst for Mountain West football games this fall.
“CBS Sports has one Big Ten football game a week, as well as Mountain West rights,” Glasspiegel wrote. “This season, Charles Davis is replacing Gary Danielson alongside Brad Nessler on Big Ten games at the network. Kelly is expected to be part of a three-man booth on Mountain West games on the broadcast network, one source said. This move was partly foreshadowed when Kelly was a part of CBS Sports Network’s studio coverage around the NFL Draft. He will also be an analyst on the CBSSN weekday program, Inside College Football, this season."
en Ruinard-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images
Will Brian Kelly coach again?
Kelly discussed his future as a coach while on SiriusXM’s “Dusty and Danny in the Morning” in March. Let's just say he didn't close the door on a return to the sideline.
“I don’t know that I’ve made the decision that I want to get back in, as all the things we’ve talked about, I’d want to see some changes. But I think while you wait, you need to work. And so, I need to stay in the game. My first order of business is this next two, three weeks, I’m gonna be visiting some places to see spring ball, get a chance to see some things relative to the football side, the operational side, some of the things we talked about today with NIL, transfer and calendar, and get a temperature in the spring for some things,” Kelly said, via On3.
Prior to his stint at LSU, Kelly was considered one of the top coaches in the country.
It wouldn't surprise us at all if Kelly gets a second chance in 2027. For now though, he'll have to get comfortable in the broadcast booth.
