Paul Finebaum breaks down Brian Kelly’s firing, lays out top candidates moving forward
By Jacob Moss
Published:
The LSU Tigers dropped one of the biggest bombshells in the 2025 coaching carousel on Sunday night, deciding to fire head coach Brian Kelly following the team’s embarrassing 49-25 home loss to the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday.
Following the massive move, SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum joined Mike Greenberg on Get Up to discuss what drove the powers that be in Baton Rouge to make the fateful decision to move on from Kelly.
“Not only did they lose on the field, but he (Kelly) lost in the locker room,” Finebaum said. “I don’t think that he had anybody believing in him anymore, and he certainly didn’t have anybody in the stands supporting him because they were all gone by the end of the game. The most important person that didn’t believe in him, interesting enough, wasn’t his boss in Scott Woodward, but it was actually the Governor of the state of Louisiana, who managed to get in the middle of this because they (LSU) have an interim president.”
Finebaum was also asked about who he believes the Bayou Bengals will pursue as their next head coach now that Kelly is out, and he mentioned one of the biggest names in the sport as a potential replacement.
“There’s no doubt that Lane Kiffin is at the top of the list,” Finebaum said. “… He’s a charismatic coach, he’s relentless, and he’s also an offensive genius as we saw on Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma, in a mild upset. Will Kiffin leave? is the question. His team has just about already stamped a Playoff bid. That will be the question as we get closer to the end of the season.”
If Ole Miss does make the CFP, Kiffin presumably wouldn’t leave his job with the Rebels until they’ve been eliminated from the postseason. The earliest that could come would be after the first round of CFP games, which are set to conclude on Dec. 20. Given the timing of the Early Signing Period and transfer portal window, that could complicate any potential hiring of Kiffin.
