Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers began the 2025 season with expectations to be in the college football playoffs and hopes of reaching the National Championship game. And after the first four weeks of the season, it seemed like they were headed in the direction of achieving their goals. Then they lost three of their last four, including a 49-25 drubbing at the hands of Texas A&M this weekend.
Kelly was already feeling the pressure in year four at LSU. Well, their latest defeat was too much for administrators to take, and despite a $53 million buyout, the university fired Kelly on Sunday night. While he is done in Baton Rouge, the 64-year-old is sure to land another major head coaching job because he has an impressive resume.
With that in mind, let’s look at five potential landing spots for Brian Kelly in 2026, including replacing Bill Belichick at North Carolina.
Stanford
Earlier this month, Stanford got a $50 million investment to help bring their football program back to relevance, and soon. That’s why it shouldn’t be a surprise if they reach out to Kelly in the coming days. The expectations at Stanford are far lower since it has been close to a decade since the program has been consistently competitive.
Plus, the combination of legendary alum Andrew Luck and Kelly overseeing the Cardinal football program could lead to a serious recruiting boom for the team. It might be a perfect change of pace for the one-time LSU coach.
- Brian Kelly record: 200-76
UCLA
Last year, UCLA brought in alum and NFL veteran Deshaun Foster to help bring the program back to relevance. Instead, the first-time head coach went 5-10 and was fired after an 0-3 start in his second season. If interim coach Tim Skipper can’t win the job this fall — and he is making a solid case to get the full-time job — the Bruins are sure to look for a veteran big-name coach.
The school would be thrilled to get a coach with 12 double-digit win seasons on his resume and one trip to a title game after the program’s done very little in the last few decades.
North Carolina
There is serious doubt that Bill Belichick will make it to year two at North Carolina. The product in the field has been average at best, and he has been a headline maker for all the wrong reasons off the field for months. Including an apparent lack of knowledge of how to build a collegiate program.
If he is ousted, the Tar Heels will want a proven college coach who can immediately turn them around and quickly put the Belichick saga behind them. Brian Kelly could certainly do that, and in a far less pressured situation than LSU was.
Oklahoma State
During his 21-year run, Mike Gundy made Oklahoma State a respected brand in college football. However, all good things come to an end, and 4-11 run brought a close to his legendary tenure. OK State doesn’t want to go backward and will want to maintain the standard Gundy set. The program certainly could appeal to Kelly because it is a notable school, but it does not have the lofty yearly expectations that in-state rival Oklahoma does.
Penn State
The Penn State head coaching job is one that all in the industry covet. It has a huge amount of prestige. But it is similar to Notre Dame, where it has institutional limitations compared to some of the monster programs in the sport. Some will say Kelly hasn’t won much more than former coach James Franklin, and that is fair. But he knows how to max out a program like this and showed it during his impressive run with the Fighting Irish.
He can maintain the high standard set by Franklin and take it a little further. Plus, the Massachusetts native is a far better fit in State College than he ever was in Baton Rouge.
