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It's a contract. Did LSU need to give a 10 year contract worth $100M in order to hire Kelly? We'll never know the negotiation that went on, but ultimately that was his asking price to take the job.
And because of the buyout, LSU does not have to pay the full $70M left on his contract amount. The buyout clause also stipulates LSU can pay over a longer period of time and is mitigated if he takes another job
Agreed.
Schools absolutely bear part of the responsibility for this as well.
And the crying like they are the victims is laughable..kind of like when they lobbied the NCAA to forbid the "visit photoshoots" that were happening after they had gotten over-the-top ridiculous--speaking of Brian Kelly, his video was top-level cringe.
The buyout is the alternative to paying out a guaranteed contract. Buyouts are cheaper, have better payout provisions, and often include mitigation (e.g, if get a another job, payout decreases based on new salary). Texas A&M paid out a guaranteed contract to Jimbo Fisher with no mitigation, which is why that one was asinine.
Instead of a guaranteed contract or a buyout clause, you can make the contract at-will. At-will is not an option at a P4 school. The only real way to bring down the buyout amount is to make the contract shorter.
The major driving forces for ridiculous contract lengths are competition between schools, dumbass boosters, extensions to stay at a school after 1 good season, and good representation for the coaches.
Additional Comment Edit: It's notable that both Kelly and Franklin have a "duty to mitigate" clause within their buyout clause that stipulate they are to seek employment in good faith to mitigate costs. Generally, that's a requirement that includes two good faith requirements: (1) they seek out employment in good faith, and (2) that employment compensate them at their value in good faith. Neither have the opportunity like Jimbo Fisher or Fuente to just take a break for a few years and relax. And neither can take a low-paying job without seeking a job with comparable compensation. So, both PSU and LSU probably will only be on the hook for about $10M or so after it all shakes out.
Fair point. I guess my larger point is if you are going to try and restrict player movement for the good of college sports you need to make the schools themselves more accountable for giving out stupid contractsbrute crying poor.
Could also argue that similar to the program being bigger than players, some are bigger than the coach too. IU should pay Cignetti, but did LSU really need to pay Kelly when they've won a national title with Saban (Elite), Miles and Orgeron already?
Here's the rub though, the Free-for-All Transfer Portal has actually only made coaches more valuable, probably exponentially so.
When you are hiring a coach, you're not just bringing them in, you are trying to rebuild your Program from the ground-up as fast as possible. You're hiring the coach not just for what they can bring but equally for who they can bring.
Yes, Jimmy Sexton and the 2 other agents that represent 80% of P4 coaches are a big part of the problem but the lack of any restriction on player movement and eligibility extensions that defy logic are equally responsible.
If players want to get paid more, there needs to be some form of contractual obligation to stay at a Program longer than until the next Portal window opens. No one is going to compensate someone maximally that can leave 4 months later.
An elite Coach in College football has become similar to an elite QB in the NFL now...you either have one or you don't. And in such a high-stakes scenario, Programs are going to overpay and agree to ridiculous buyouts, much like NFL teams overpay QBs coming of their Rookie Contracts---see Lawrence, Trevor and Murray, Kyler --neither one of them are $50 mil QBs, but they also aren't Carson Wentz or Justin Fields either.
If the NCAA/schools are gonna beg for federal government help in "saving" college sports, they need to quit giving out asinine buyouts/contracts to head coaches.
Stupid that players are supposedly getting paid exponentially more, but the coaches pay is going up just as much if not more.
One could argue Jimmy Sexton is just as bad for college sports as NIL. He has a pseudo monopoly on suppossed top tier coaches.
And I'm not a fan of the annual free agency either, but the coaches winning the lottery for sucking at their jobs is so stupid.
That might be the same reaction of the many fans that left early.
If the new coach / offensive coordinator run a completely different offensive scheme, a new o-line philosophy maybe required.
Making free throws. What a novel idea.
Yeah, but there's also larger backstories to both. We know with Franklin. But the expectations at LSU are, realistically, bigger. The most Kelly has to show for his 3.5 seasons with a Heisman winner who's tearing it up in the NFL, and a QB that will likely be a first round pick is a single SEC Championship game appearance. I'm in the camp that Kelly has underachieved, although I think firing him now isn't a great move.
Agree with above, that decision likely made faster when the coach in question is unlikeable or at least has worn out his welcome.
HOKIE HOOPS WIZ
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8 months 3 weeks
# | Hokie Hoops Central: Duquesne at Virginia Tech 1pm TODAY (Scrimmage) Finished with 24 points. 23 rebounds, 6 assists 2 steals and 1 turnover.
Duke hit EVERY free throw in second half to win 83-76.
HOKIE HOOPS WIZ
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8 months 3 weeks
# | Hokie Hoops Central: Duquesne at Virginia Tech 1pm TODAY (Scrimmage) Welp I jinxed him. Turned it over in final minute as soon as I typed it.
HOKIE HOOPS WIZ
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8 months 3 weeks
# | Hokie Hoops Central: Duquesne at Virginia Tech 1pm TODAY (Scrimmage) Cameron Boozer for Duke is LEGIT.
Has 24 points, 22 rebounds and zero turnovers against the #18 team.
Arena is full to the brim for this one too. Announcer said they have 22,000 in attendance.
We're up to $167.9 million in total buyout money committed to fired FBS coaches in the carousel.It's not even November.— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) October 27, 2025
Insane numbers
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If Brian Kelly came to VT to coach, I think he would kill it.
Idk who goes there right now. Considering what we saw with Cignetti, movement across P2 seems limited, and they have the same issue of Penn State - who are you actually excited about? They're also competing with PSU and Florida, possibly Auburn and some others. You're not poaching Brian Kelly again. I just think that Sumrall is who they're gonna land on unless one of the other big fish land him first.
Yes to both points. LSU is NOT a bad team by any means. They are 5-3 after losing to the 13th, 17th, and 3rd ranked teams in the country. Those first two were a couple plays away from being a win. I don't care much for Kelly, but FFS they've lost two really close games to ranked opponents. How in the f*%# did we get to this point in college football that a string of losses (and I won't even call them bad) results in a coach getting canned with a massive buyout because the expectation is national-championship-or-bust???
Ok, your post that I replied to didn't make that point, it said that basically nobody could elevate this team because the system was bad. I feel like you've made the point that there's maybe a dozen QBs that can elevate teams before, so if that's your point I agree.
No Oklahoma State is credited with starting it but Hokies may have done it best so far. ESPN even included a blurb about it in this week's Superlatives article.
All of the teams that had done it lost before the Hokies.
Boosters are often commended for their self-awareness and level-headed thinking.
I don't think Kelly has Franklin or Mullen's ceiling. He's also 11 years older than both those guys (both 53). He's not on Freeze level of I don't want him anywhere near the program. But I think the upside isn't there anymore.
Supposedly the lsu boosters think they're too far above Tulane to hire someone from there.
I feel like both Franklin and Kelly had such short leashes in part because they are just generally unlikable people.
Yes, both fell short of (probably insane) expectations but its always easier to can someone who is also an unrelenting assbag.
I have zero faith in Mike Young to effectively use talent. People forget because of last year's anomaly but he wasted a couple of good teams in 22-23 and 23-24 that should've made the tournament and definitely had the pieces