Brian Kelly says the first thing he did after LSU fired him was pack a U-Haul and drive it himself. Six months after the school cut him loose midway through his fourth season, Kelly says he is still surprised he handled the move that way, but he is also clear about where he wants to go next: back to coaching.
"I never thought I'd be able to pack a U-Haul and drive it," Kelly said in an interview with Sports on Sports Seriously. "Listen, I'm feeling good about myself.... There's no pictures anywhere, but in fact I did."
Kelly was fired after LSU's 49-25 loss to Texas A&M on the road on Oct. 25, a defeat that ended a run in which he went 34-14 across parts of four seasons. He never reached the College Football Playoff in Baton Rouge, and the program moved on before his fourth season was complete.
Now, Kelly says the time away has changed how he sees the job and the next one he takes. "I wanna be back coaching, that's what I love to do," he said, adding that the break has helped him reflect on the firing and what he wants from his next opportunity. He also said college football is in a rebuilding phase, with relationships still at the center of the sport for him.
That matters because Kelly is not looking at the next job the same way he once might have. He said LSU owes him $54 million from buying out his contract, which gives him room to be selective. He said he has downsized his house and figured out how to pay bills since being fired, practical changes that come with losing one of the sport's highest-profile jobs. He also said he has reconnected with his wife after 35 years in the business. "After 35 years of being in the business, you're going in different directions," Kelly said.
What he says he misses most is not the spotlight or the pressure. It is the daily pull of the locker room and the people in it. "I think what's clear to me is I miss the relationships," he said. "I miss being with the players and that to me is what drives me." That is the thread Kelly says will shape his next move, whether it comes quickly or on his own terms. Brian Kelly lands a Fired Football Coach New Job with CBS Sports Network, but for him the bigger question is simpler: the next stop has to feel like a place where the relationships still matter.
