BATON ROUGE, La. — Brian Kelly was formally introduced as the new head coach at LSU during a press conference on Tuesday. LSU President and Athletic Director Scott Woodward both spoke glowingly about Kelly before bringing him up to the stage.
"His resume is unrivaled. Simply put, he checks every box," said Woodward.
The former Notre Dame coach admitted that before the 2021 season he wasn't looking for another opportunity but the LSU job was something that he couldn't turn down.
“Being part of the SEC is such a great opportunity for me,” Kelly said.
Kelly will seek to become the fourth straight LSU coach to bring home a national title, following Nick Saban, Les Miles, and Orgeron's path.
"This is so much about alignment and for me, alignment relative to this university, the goals, what is in store for LSU Athletics, as a university, that is the draw to me," Kelly said.
Kelly, the winningest head coach at Notre Dame, and someone who has won at every stop he has made on the college coaching circuit, will be one of, if not the richest coach in college football with a reported 10-year, $95 million deal that could be even richer with incentives.
Kelly will replace Ed Orgeron, who officially ended his tenure with last week's victory over Texas A&M. Orgeron won a national title two years ago with one of the most heralded teams in college football history.
Kelly's hiring has seemingly been received with mixed feelings by the LSU fan base, who no doubt would be assuaged with national contention.
Orgeron fell out of favor by going 11-11 in the past two seasons after finishing 15-0 in 2019.
Kelly's Notre Dame team finished the regular season this year at 11-1. With no conference championship game, the Irish will sit by and wait to see if things fall their way to get into another college football playoff.