LSU Football 2025: Why Brian Kelly’s Time Is Now — And Why He’s Already Done More Than You Think
It’s become a popular pastime for college football fans across the country—especially those from South Bend—to take shots at Brian Kelly. Whether it’s a viral clip of a red-faced sideline meltdown, a table-pounding postgame presser, or a meme-worthy moment that feeds the internet for days, Kelly has given critics plenty of content. But while the noise around him gets louder, the numbers tell a very different story.
As LSU gears up for the 2025 season, it’s time to ask the question that not enough people are willing to answer honestly: Has Brian Kelly actually been better than he’s given credit for?
The Narrative vs. The Reality: Is Kelly Actually Underperforming?
It’s easy to dismiss Kelly’s LSU tenure with a surface-level glance. No SEC titles. No College Football Playoff berths. A blowout loss to Georgia in the 2022 SEC Championship. An embarrassing regular-season stumble to a mediocre Texas A&M team. A 0-3 record in season openers. And yes, a Texas Bowl appearance last season that left many Tiger fans scratching their heads.
But let’s flip the script for a moment.
In his first three seasons at LSU, Brian Kelly has gone 29-11. That’s a better three-year start than Nick Saban, who went 28-12 in his first trio of seasons in Baton Rouge before launching LSU into national prominence. Yet Kelly is somehow painted as underwhelming.
How many programs would kill for that kind of early success?
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Kelly has produced two double-digit win seasons in three years.
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He led LSU to three consecutive bowl wins, including a Citrus Bowl win and a dominant performance in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
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He coached a Heisman Trophy winner in Jayden Daniels.
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He did all this while cleaning up the mess left behind after the chaotic exit of Ed Orgeron.
Yes, LSU fans demand championships. That’s the standard when your last three coaches—Nick Saban, Les Miles, and Orgeron—all won national titles. But in almost any other football program in America, Kelly’s résumé in his first three years would be met with praise, not criticism.
The Stats Say It All
When you stack Kelly’s run against historic programs, the accomplishments become even clearer.
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LSU has as many double-digit win seasons under Kelly as Auburn has had since winning the national title in 2010.
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That’s also as many as South Carolina has had in 117 years, and more than Mississippi State has managed in over a century.
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Texas A&M has had just as many since leaving the Southwest Conference—a span that stretches back over 25 years.
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Kentucky has only managed two such seasons in 109 years of football.
This is not mediocrity. This is sustained success—just not the kind LSU fans are used to celebrating.
But 2025 Is More Than Just a Measuring Stick—It’s a Deadline
The problem? LSU isn’t any program. It’s the program where the bar is set not at 10 wins, but national championships. And for better or worse, 2025 is shaping up to be Brian Kelly’s defining season.
This is Year Four—the same year Ed Orgeron won it all in 2019. It’s also when Nick Saban lifted the crystal trophy for LSU in 2003. Les Miles? He did it in Year Three.
That’s the precedent. That’s the pressure. And that’s what makes this year different.
Kelly has a strong returning core, headlined by quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who threw for over 4,000 yards last season. The offense is reloading with transfer talent at wide receiver and tight end. The defense, once a weak point, is expected to take a step forward with depth and experience. And the SEC landscape, while brutal, is as wide open as it’s been in years with Saban’s retirement, uncertainty at Georgia, and a shifting power balance across the conference.
Kelly’s Biggest Hurdle? Perception.
Brian Kelly will never be the cool, smooth-talking, Southern-bred icon that LSU fans romanticize. He’s a straight-shooter from the Northeast, with a dry wit, intense sideline presence, and a results-over-style approach. But that shouldn’t matter if the wins keep piling up.
If LSU makes the College Football Playoff in 2025, the narrative changes overnight. If Kelly brings home an SEC title, he quiets the doubters. And if he shocks the world with a national championship? Then the Brian Kelly era will go down as one of the great turnaround stories in program history.
Until then, the noise won’t stop. But the numbers won’t lie.
Final Thought: The Pressure Is Real, But So Is the Progress
Brian Kelly has delivered consistency in a program that was craving it. He’s winning, developing talent, and keeping LSU in national conversations every single year. But now the expectations get louder, the spotlight gets hotter, and the leash gets shorter.
This is his prove-it year. And based on what he’s already accomplished, writing him off would be a mistake.
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