Brian Kelly Not Closing Door on Return to Coaching

NEW YORK – Brian Kelly looks relaxed and happy in his new role with CBS Sports and SiriusXM College Sports Radio. But the former LSU and Notre Dame coach tells Front Office Sports he’s not shutting the door on a return to coaching. If the right opportunity pop ups, he’s ready to listen.

With an overall coaching record of 297-109-2 at LSU, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Central Michigan, and Grand Valley, Kelly’s a proven winner. It’s no wonder his name is already being linked to possible Power 4 coaching opportunities at Maryland, Baylor, and NC State.

A little more than a year ago, Kelly was fired by LSU after compiling a 34-14 record with the Tigers over four seasons. But the drama didn’t end there. The school tried to wiggle out of paying him his full buyout. Kelly sued. LSU blinked and agreed to pay him the full $54 million ending the legal battle.

During the 2026 season, Kelly is serving both as a game and studio analyst for CBS’s college football coverage. The three-time Coach of the Year is also co-hosting a weekly show on SiriusXM with Danny Kanell and Roy Philpott.

Kelly visited the Front Office Sports office to talk about his rookie season in sports media, the pressures facing his LSU successor Lane Kiffin, and where he stands on an expanded College Football Playoff. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Excerpts:

Front Office Sports: What’s it like calling college football games on Saturdays instead of coaching them?

Brian Kelly: Well, it was difficult. Obviously, because you’re used to the game, the lead-up to the game, all that goes along with the preparation. So I think it wasn’t just Saturday. I think it was like Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday, looking out my window going, ‘I should be on the field here around 2:30-3 p.m.’ So after getting through that, your focus is on your job and my focus is the preparation for the game, meeting the players and the coaches associated with it. So it really filled a pretty good gap that was there for me, by having that interaction with the players and the coaches and going to practice.

FOS: How do you like calling games at CBS?

BK: I think it’s been what I was hoping for in any business or organization, you’re looking to be in a culture where there’s standards, there’s high standards for excellence and there’s good people. I think the people make the difference for me at CBS. I have a new respect for how it’s all put together. I really wasn’t sure what a director did or a producer. Obviously, the executive staff is amazing in terms of being able to plot out the course. But the audio professionals, the camera professionals, the research department…I couldn’t believe the research that I got on my computer and phone in the first week for preparation.

FOS: Some coaches go into media for a year or two to recharge their batteries, then return to the sidelines. One of the most famous examples is Bruce Arians. He called games for CBS in 2018, then went back to the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers in 2021. Do you see yourself staying in the media? Or returning to coaching?

BK: Well, I still have a passion for the game. I still have a passion for the relationships. I think everything that I’ve done in this business has been about developing young men and being in an environment where you can get the best out of them. So I miss that. Certainly, this is not a stopover for me. I’ve put all of my time and effort into being the best I can for CBS. If something, you know, opens up that looks like a good fit for both sides, I won’t close the door on it. On the other hand, I love the work that I’m doing with CBS.

FOS: Let’s talk about some of the major doings in college football. With the Big Ten dominating, is the SEC no longer King of the Hill?

BK: No, I think there’s just great parity around college football. Certainly, Indiana was the national champion, and deservingly so. Michigan the year before. But there’s probably 30, 40 teams now that have invested heavily in wanting to win a championship. And because of that, we’ve got more of an NFL model. There’s great parity across the board.

I think it’d be like saying one year the NFC is better than the AFC. Nobody really buys into that argument because they’re all good. And on any given day what we’re seeing in college football, I hear it all the time, there’s chaos. I think it’s the new normal. So I don’t think there’s a preeminent conference. Clearly the Big 10 and the SEC have a leg up. But I think that parity is really the biggest single determiner of what’s happening right now.

FOS: Where do you stand on expanding the College Football Playoff?

BK: I just can’t see a negative in it. Certainly traditionalists would say, “Well, we’re gonna lose some of the passion for the regular season.” I was just talking to [FOS founder Adam White] here, and all he wanted to talk about was the Miami-Notre Dame game, and certainly that’s a regular season game. We’re going to continue to have great games—especially with the Big 10 and the SEC going to nine conference games plus a carryover game, a 10th with the other conference. It’s going to make for exciting football.

24 teams does this: For those that are just on the outside looking in, there’s hope. If you want to keep putting money into your program, your fan base needs hope. So coming to November, that brings in such a large number of teams that were never going to be part of this. And then from the top down, you still get the opportunity to host a playoff game, to get a bye, to still be rewarded from the top down. So I just think it’s really good for football.

FOS: But what about losing the Conference Championship games?

BK: Listen, I think there’s great history and tradition, but like anything in the world we live in, change is inevitable, and I think the change in college football was inevitable where we had to bring in more teams because there’s just such an investment by so many teams today. So something had to give. And if you’re going to give up a conference championship, for the betterment of college football—and I believe this is for the betterment of college football—then that unfortunately was going to have to be the thing that was given up.

FOS: We were just talking about one of your old rivals, Nick Saban. He’s a big supporter of the Protect College Sports Act. Where do you stand on it?

BK: We have to come up with some white paper, some rules. Look, I think the hardest thing for me is when you bring in a class and there’s a great chance that that turnover is in one year. When you bring in your rookie class in the NFL, they have to be there for four years. There’s no free agency until after four years.

We have to figure out how to maintain the rosters without turning over each and every year. So the unlimited transfer, through that act, is probably the single most, in my opinion, the single most important thing that we need to handle. And then whether it’s some kind

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