LSU head coach Brian Kelly has a ton of pressure on him heading into he 2025 season. Whether he knows it or not doesn’t matter. Whether he feels it or not doesn’t matter either.
The truth of the matter is, Kelly has to get LSU into the College Football Playoff, at least, or he may not be long for his role in Baton Rouge. That’s something he hasn’t done yet with the Tigers, and in the grand scheme of things, LSU hasn’t been back to the CFP since 2020, when they won it all with Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase.
This is a fanbase with high expectations, and Kelly, despite being 29-11 in three seasons, hasn’t met them.
That leads former LSU All-American defensive end turned ESPN talking head Marcus Spears to believe that fans won’t just be antsy if Kelly doesn’t lead the Tigers to the CFP in 2025 — they’ll want him gone.
“LSU is in that window now … where if you don’t win big, if you’re Brian Kelly, this fan base is done,” Spears said on ESPN’s “Get Up” on Tuesday (h/t On3). “And I’m just telling you, the wins and the success and all of the things, going to the SEC Championship your first year was, was great, but people still didn’t feel like that was like a big time accomplishment based on how it happened. This year, you see all of the transfers, you see the recruiting class, Garrett Nussmeier in the preseason Heisman conversation, all of those things in the past at LSU has aligned with them having big seasons.”
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