According to the Advocate, Kelly is asking the school to pay for his $54 million buyout, but is “open to any additional offers” from the school regarding the amount.
In a Nov. 5 letter sent to LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry and LSU Board of Supervisors member John Carmouche, attorneys representing Kelly said the former head coach wants LSU to confirm in writing by 5 p.m. Nov. 10 that the school will “meet its contractual obligation” to pay Kelly “full damages.”
If paid in full, Kelly’s buyout would be the second-largest ever paid to a college football coach behind the $77 million Texas A&M paid Jimbo Fisher in 2023.
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A possible deal regarding a buyout has been mentioned since Kelly was fired, but the school doesn’t have much say in this situation since Kelly’s contract stipulates the amount the school owes him at the time of his dismissal. In this case, Kelly is contractually owed 90% of his remaining compensation in a 10-year contract he signed with the school before the 2022 season.
Kelly went 34-15 in his time at LSU, but the Tigers never lost fewer than three games in any of his three-plus seasons. In 2025, LSU lost to Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M before being dismissed.
The purchase has been a particularly sore point for Gov. Jeff Landry. He cited Kelly’s termination along with Fisher’s termination as the reason former athletic director Scott Woodward would not hire the Tigers’ next coach. However, Fisher’s buyout was determined based on an extension he signed with Texas A&M after Woodward left the Aggies to be LSU’s athletic director.
LSU lost 20-9 Saturday night to Alabama in interim coach Frank Wilson’s first game in charge. Ausberry, a longtime LSU athletic department employee, was elevated to the school’s permanent athletic director position this week after LSU hired McNeese’s Wade Rousse as its next president.