Fired LSU Coach Brian Kelly Threatens Lawsuit over $54 Million Buyout Dispute

Brian Kelly has threatened to file a lawsuit against LSU amid his $54 million buyout dispute after being fired as head football coach.

The university fired Brian Kelly in October due to an underwhelming season, and he has since been disputing the terms of his buyout, per the New York Post:

Kelly is due $54 million as part of a buyout package — an issue that helped lead to the ouster of LSU athletic director Scott Woodward — though in an email to school brass, he said he’d be open to a settlement.

Brian Kelly apparently wants every penny of the $54 million LSU owes him — or at least a better settlement offer.

The fired football coach and the university have been at odds over his buyout, with Kelly rejecting lump-sum offers of $25 million and $30 million, and his camp is threatening legal action if he’s not paid in full.

Last Wednesday, Kelly’s attorneys sent a letter to LSU Athletic Director Verge Ausberry and LSU Board of Supervisors member John Carmouche, requesting written confirmation that the school will “fulfill its contractual obligation” to honor his buyout deal. He was fired in his fourth season of a 10-year $95 million contract.

“Absent this written confirmation by that date, Coach Kelly will pursue all available legal remedies,” the attorneys wrote.

LSU went 10-4, 10-3, and 9-4 in Kelly’s first three seasons with no championships. Upon his firing, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said that LSU athletic director Scott Woodward, who was also later fired, would not select the next head coach.

“Hell, I’ll let Donald Trump select it before I let him do it,” Landry said.

“We are not going down a failed path,” Landry added. “This is a pattern. The guy that’s here now wrote that contract that cost Texas A&M more than $70 million. Right now, we have a $53 million liability. We are not doing that again.”

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