The Brian Kelly era at LSU has come to an abrupt and costly end. The university officially parted ways with Kelly after a tumultuous season marked by inconsistent play and locker room tension. Despite securing solid recruiting classes, LSU’s underwhelming performances against SEC powerhouses sealed Kelly’s fate. His departure comes with a staggering $54 million buyout — the second-largest in college football history.
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As sports business analyst Joe Pompliano noted, this adds to a historic spending spree: college football programs have already shelled out over $170 million in buyouts in 2025, smashing the previous record of $118 million — with nearly three months still left in the year.
Amid the chaos of Kelly’s firing, Robert Griffin III (RGIII) offered a bold take. The former Heisman winner revealed an unexpected name who, according to him, wants to take over the LSU program:
“Tyrann Mathieu hit me up and let me know that he wants the head coaching job at LSU,” RGIII said. “And you cannot tell me that any LSU Tiger wouldn’t want him to lead them back to glory. You’re gonna have to surround this guy with lots of great staff.”
Mathieu — affectionately known as the “Honey Badger” — is one of LSU’s most iconic players ever. During his college career, he was a Heisman finalist, won the Chuck Bednarik Award, and set an SEC record with 11 career forced fumbles before being dismissed from the team in 2012 for violating team rules. He went on to have a stellar 12-year NFL career, earning multiple All-Pro selections and becoming one of the most respected defensive leaders in the league.
