Brian Kelly is the coach with the most to prove in 2025, ESPN experts agree

Brian Kelly has had some success at LSU in his 3 seasons at the helm of the program, winning 10, 10 and 9 games.

Unfortunately for Brian Kelly, that’s below the level of success LSU fans are used to, as each of the Tigers’ previous 3 head coaches (Nick Saban, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron) have won national titles.

Kelly has racked up the wins, yes, but has no College Football Playoff appearances and has only made the SEC Championship Game once (a 2022 loss to Georgia, the eventual national champion).

Thus, the 2025 campaign is an important one in Baton Rouge.

ESPN’s college football experts put together a list of coaches with the most to prove in 2025. While guys like Lincoln Riley, Bill Belichick and others got votes, Adam Rittenberg and David Hale went with Kelly.

Here’s what Rittenberg had to say:

Rittenberg: Brian Kelly for me. He left Notre Dame for LSU with the expressed purpose of winning national titles. But the Tigers haven’t even made the CFP under his watch, while Notre Dame just recorded its first three CFP victories under Kelly’s successor, Marcus Freeman, taking down SEC champion Georgia en route to the national title game. Each of the past three LSU coaches — Ed Orgeron, Les Miles and Nick Saban — won a national title by the end of their fourth season at the school. LSU had some obvious talent deficiencies during Kelly’s first few seasons, but the Tigers have rectified that through the portal and improved recruiting. Anything short of a CFP appearance this fall will create major doubt around Kelly, a Hall of Fame-caliber coach who hasn’t fully delivered yet in the Bayou.

And here’s what Hale said about the head Tiger:

Hale: The two biggest hires of the 2022 coaching carousel were Lincoln Riley and Brian Kelly. As Chris Low notes, the pressure on Riley to turn things around at USC is immense, but things aren’t exactly easy for Kelly at LSU either. In three seasons in Baton Rouge, Kelly has been … fine. He has won 29 games, which is tied for the 15th most over that span, right alongside fellow SEC coach Lane Kiffin, who’s viewed as far more successful. But the problem is, LSU didn’t hire Kelly to lead a top-15 team. It hired him to win a national championship, and he has not come close. LSU has lost its opener in each of Kelly’s three seasons, letting the air out of the balloon before it ever got off the ground. LSU has been ranked eighth or better in each of Kelly’s three seasons, too — but hasn’t finished inside the top 12. And last year, it was Kelly’s former team, Notre Dame — a program he suggested couldn’t win it all in the modern era — that made it to the College Football Playoff final. Kelly might not be on the hot seat exactly, but the clock is absolutely ticking.

Once again, LSU starts the season with a tough nonconference game, heading to Clemson on Saturday, August 30. Both sets of Tigers will have Playoff hopes this fall, so we’ll see who scores that impressive résumé-building win.

Clemson is currently a 2.5-point favorite over LSU via DraftKings. Check out all the best Louisiana betting apps ahead of the 2025 season.

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.