As Brian Kelly Deals With LSU Firing, His Former Notre Dame Defensive Coordinators Flourish

On Sunday night, LSU fired football coach Brian Kelly, ending the tenure of a man who had thrived at each of his previous jobs but failed to meet expectations with the Tigers. Kelly was never a good fit at LSU, his angry outbursts, standoffishness and lack of winning ultimately leading to his departure midway through his fourth season, although he is still going to walk away with tens of millions of dollars.

That same day, three of Kelly’s former defensive coordinators at Notre Dame were in much different situations. Texas A&M coach Mike Elko, Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea and Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman are flourishing in their roles and could each make the College Football Playoff while their ex-boss, Kelly, is unemployed and in limbo.

Elko, Kelly’s defensive coordinator at Notre Dame in 2017, ended up hastening Kelly’s exit as Texas A&M defeated LSU, 49-25, Saturday night on the road, outscoring the Tigers by 27 points in the second half as tens of thousands of fans left early. The Aggies are now 8-0 and third in the Associated Press poll, their best ranking in 30 years.

Before taking over at A&M last season, following the firing of coach Jimbo Fisher, Elko spent two seasons as Duke’s coach, where he led the Blue Devils to a 16-9 record. During Elko’s first season, the Aggies finished 8-5, although they lost their last three games. This season, they are one of only six undefeated teams in the nation, are tied with Alabama atop the SEC with a 5-0 record and have a road victory over Notre Dame that should go a long way to helping their CFP chances even if they lose a game or two the rest of the season. After a bye week, A&M travels to face No. 19 Missouri on Nov. 8 before finishing the regular season against South Carolina and Samford at home and playing at No. 20 Texas, its biggest rival.

While Elko had two years of head coaching experience prior to A&M, Lea and Freeman had never been a head coach until leading their current teams.

As Kelly’s defensive coordinator for three seasons at Notre Dame, Lea helped the Fighting Irish to CFP berths in the 2018 and 2020 seasons when only four teams were chosen. In December 2020, Vanderbilt hired Lea, who had played at the school in the early 2000s. Lea embraced the opportunity at his alma mater even as it was considered among the most challenging jobs in the Power Four conferences.

Before Lea arrived, Vanderbilt had gone 0-9 in 2020 and had finished above .500 in the SEC just twice in the past 60 years. The Commodores then went 0-8 in the SEC twice in Lea’s first three seasons before the school began investing in the program and Clark and his staff found the right mix of high school recruits and transfers. Vanderbilt went 7-6 last season, including a win over then-No. 1 Alabama, and has thrived this season. After consecutive seven-point victories over LSU and Missouri, the Commodores are 7-1 and No. 9 in the AP poll, their highest ranking since 1937. Of their final four games, two are against ranked opponents in No. 20 Texas this Saturday and the season finale at No. 14 Tennessee on Nov. 29. If Vanderbilt can win three more games, it should be in a good position to advance to the CFP.

Freeman, meanwhile, has already been to the playoff, as he led Notre Dame to the national title game last season, where the Fighting Irish lost to Ohio State. That ND team sustained a crushing loss to lowly Northern Illinois in the second game of the regular season before winning its last 10 regular season games and qualifying for the CFP. The Fighting Irish then defeated three AP top 10 teams (No. 9 Indiana, No. 2 Georgia and No. 5 Penn State) in the playoffs before falling to Ohio State.

This season is playing out in a similar fashion. Notre Dame started off with losses at Miami and against Texas A&M by a combined four points but has won five consecutive games and is now No. 12 in the AP poll. Of the Fighting Irish’s five remaining opponents, none are ranked, although they do face undefeated Navy (7-0) at home and 6-2 Pittsburgh on the road in back-to-back games on Nov. 8 and 15. If ND can win all of those games, it would likely be in the CFP again.

For Notre Dame, losing Kelly and replacing him with Freeman has worked out about as well as anyone could have hoped. When Kelly left four years ago, he said he had a better chance at winning a national title at LSU, and who could argue with him? The previous three LSU coaches (Nick Saban, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron) each won a national championship within their first four years.

In 12 seasons at Notre Dame, Kelly had become the program’s all-time leader in victories and led the Fighting Irish to two CFP appearances as well as the 2012 national title game. But they went just 4-10 against AP top 10 teams and were blown out in playoff appearances against Alabama (twice) and Clemson. The Fighting Irish last won a national title during the 1988 season, and they were not considered among the truly elite programs even during Kelly’s tenure.

Still, after last season’s success and an influx of recruits and transfers, Freeman has Notre Dame in its best position since the late 1980s and early 1990s under former coach Lou Holtz. The Fighting Irish have the nation’s best running back duo in Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, a promising quarterback in redshirt freshman CJ Carr and an improving defense that features arguably the nation’s top cornerback in sophomore Leonard Moore. Those players and several more starters all have eligibility remaining, plus Notre Dame has the No. 4 high school recruiting class in the nation, per 247Sports, meaning the Fighting Irish seem like they should continue to be an elite program.

LSU, meanwhile, is likely to be fine even though the Tigers still owe Kelly about $54 million on his contract that was scheduled to end following the 2031 season. Scott Woodward, LSU’s athletics director, said in a statement on Sunday that “terms of the separation are still being negotiated.” Whether the Tigers end up paying the full buyout or less, they are still going to be on the hook for a large amount of money, but they were fine with that as Woodward made it clear that Kelly had not met the demands of the job.

Woodward noted that LSU had “high hopes” that Kelly would lead LSU to “multiple SEC and national championships.” After all, Kelly had won two Division II national titles as Grand Valley State’s head coach and then won big at Central Michigan, Cincinnati and Notre Dame. With LSU’s vast financial resources and talent-rich area, Kelly was expected to continue his winning ways. Instead, he finished his tenure with a 34-14 record and having never led the Tigers to a CFP berth or conference championship game.

Now, as Kelly ponders his next move, LSU is looking for his replacement. Freeman, who turns 40 in January, has been the hot name in terms of openings at Penn State and Florida, and LSU will surely consider him, although Freeman seems content at Notre Dame, having signed a major extension last year and spoken highly of the school and its administration. Lea and Elko are almost certainly going to get opportunities, too. Still, like Freeman, they are in situations that fit them well, where they are highly compensated, have financial backing from boosters and their bosses and are winning. Kelly might not find solace in what he’s going through now, but he could take a small sense of pride that his former defensive coordinators are thriving, showing they can excel in the changing college football landscape that demands adaptability and accountability.