Brian Kelly’s Buyout, Contract Details After LSU’s Loss to Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt

LSU football endured a disappointing 31-24 road loss to No. 17 Vanderbilt on Saturday, with Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia accounting for 246 yards (160 passing, 86 rushing) and three scores (one passing, two rushing).

This is another tough blow in the tenure of fourth-year head coach Brian Kelly, who left Notre Dame for LSU late in 2021 and signed a 10-year, $95 million contract with the Tigers. Per USA Today, the buyout for Kelly’s contract is $53.3 million.

LSU football’s season started with great promise as the No. 9 team in the Associated Press preseason poll, and it only got better after a 17-10 win at No. 4 Clemson.

The Tigers then rolled off three straight wins to move to 4-0 and up to fourth in the AP poll.

However, it’s been tough sledding ever since, with the possibility of the 2025 campaign getting worse before it gets better.

LSU lost 24-19 at Ole Miss in a game the Tigers never led in the final 35 minutes. The Tigers then scratched and clawed their way to a 20-10 win over a South Carolina team that’s currently 3-4 overall (1-4 in the SEC).

Now LSU has lost again, this time at No. 17 Vanderbilt. Once again, LSU played from behind and trailed for the last 35 minutes.

A look ahead at the schedule reveals more potential pitfalls. LSU will host No. 4 Texas A&M and then enjoy a bye week before visiting No. 6 Alabama. The Tigers should then be heavy favorites over the next two weeks against Arkansas and Western Kentucky. Another tough game ends the ledger, though, at No. 14 Oklahoma.

Ultimately, LSU faces a significant uphill climb just to make the College Football Playoff after missing out last year in the first season of the 12-team field.

Simply put, Kelly’s tenure overall has left much to be desired.

Kelly took over a program that had gone 11-12 in its last two seasons under head coach Ed Orgeron. LSU immediately improved from 6-7 to 10-3 in year one under Kelly and even qualified for the SEC Championship Game, where the team fell to Georgia. However, the Tigers closed the year strong by beating Purdue 63-7 in the Citrus Bowl and finished 16th in the AP poll after not even being ranked to start 2022.

The 2023 team began the season as the No. 5 team in the nation. While LSU did amass another 10 wins, the Tigers went just 1-3 against ranked teams and notably allowed a combined 155 points in three losses to Florida State, Alabama and Ole Miss. A win against Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl closed the year.

In 2024, LSU started 13th in the AP poll, but this was a rough year for the Tigers, who again struggled against ranked opponents (1-3) and endured a three-game losing streak after a 6-1 start. They finished 9-4 but finished outside the AP poll entirely. A win against Baylor in the Texas Bowl closed the season.

Now 2025 is sailing in the wrong direction. The opening win against Clemson doesn’t look as good on paper now with the Tigers having their own struggles starting the year at 3-3 and falling out of the AP poll.

LSU now faces a pair of tough tasks against two SEC powerhouses. Wins against both of those schools could quiet any naysayers, but poor performances would only embolden critics as Kelly continues year four.

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