A rift has been created between Notre Dame and LSU fans over the last couple of years, two fan bases that never had any ill will in the past, but now have developed a distaste for one another. The reason for that feud: current LSU and former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly . So many Twitter beefs, harsh words, and frustration has been made over one 5-8 fella from Massachusetts.
Most Notre Dame fans respected Kelly for what he did in South Bend. He took over a program that needed to change, needing an injection of stability. The former Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, and Cincinnati head coach provided that. There were a couple down years as part of his 12-year stint with the Irish, 2016 the worst of them, but the program was definitely in a better place when he left than it was when he arrived.
The three biggest criticisms of Coach Kelly during his time with Notre Dame: lack of ability to win big games, failure to take accountability for the program's faults and smugness as a person. The former was the main frustration, which included a 23-24 record against top 25 teams with the program. That also included a 3-10 record against teams ranked in the top 10.
Being a fan of the Irish became a very interesting thing during that time. Instead of taking accountability for those failures in the big games, it was always about what you didn't have. It constantly made it out to be the player’s fault, the administration's fault and whoever else Kelly wanted to blame. It was never about his needed growth.
Notre Dame adopted the “next year is our year” approach, buying into what Kelly was selling. Instead of accepting the failures, and growing, it was easier just to convince yourself that the next step is the best step. Winning big games? Nah man, that’s impossible at the University of Notre Dame, or at least that’s how Coach Kelly made fans feel.
Even a few years removed from Kelly’s tenure, that thought still creeps in the back of a lot of fan’s minds. “BKPTSD” is a term that has been created among the fan base, which comes up every time Notre Dame is preparing for another big game.
With all that failure and lack of accountability, at least Coach Kelly was a great person that all the fans loved and admired during his time. Oh wait, that didn’t happen either. His smugness and short fuse wasn’t something that most Notre Dame fans could align with. That type of personality is fine, but only when you do win those big games. When you don’t, it becomes a less than attractive combination.
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When Kelly opted to leave to take the LSU job, there was some relief out there from the Irish side. We can respect what Kelly did accomplish in South Bend, and still admit that it wasn’t going to get much better. There was a self-created ceiling on the program that wasn’t going to get raised under the previous regime. Change was needed.
LSU fans were warned about the good under Kelly (stability), while also admitting that the ceiling does exist, and there was lack of success in the big games. Those things were evident, at least by those who experienced everyone of those failures firsthand.
The counter was that things would be easier in Baton Rouge, completely dismissing that talent that Kelly had during his Irish tenure. It wasn’t the talent that was the biggest issue in the big games. It was a lack of preparation, and instilling a mindset to expect victories in those situations. But you couldn’t tell LSU fans that when Kelly was signed to a 10-year, $95-million contract.
For whatever reason, it was taken as a personal attack by many Tiger fans. Notre Dame fans were just “salty” about losing their head coach, when in reality, many were pretty excited to see what a future without him might look like.
Now we’re in year three of Kelly in Baton Rouge, and the excuses are already beginning following a 27-20 season opening loss to the USC Trojans. That was just his most recent failure against a top 25 school, moving his record to 3-6 against top 25 teams in Baton Rouge.
Wait, I thought things were supposed to get easier?
Kelly did a nice job quickly picking up the pieces during his first year with LSU, taking a roster without much depth and winning 10 games en route to an SEC Championship game performance. That season included an upset victory over Alabama, a game that holds a lot of weight for Tiger supporters. Now the next step was getting more talent in the building with the floor being raised.
Two years later, it’s all the same story. Even after last night’s loss, many LSU fans are still yelling about being patient while the roster keeps getting built. In the transfer portal era, where you have a chance to add talent to the room in multiple ways, we are still making excuses for Kelly failing on the biggest stage. At what point does that end?
Maybe it’ll be when this really talented 2025 recruiting class gets to Baton Rouge, but probably not next season since it’ll be young and Kelly still has some holes to hill. Hey, maybe in 2026! Wait, no, that won’t work. LSU will still be young in a couple important spots. But by 2027, that could definitely be the year! If not, 2028 should be very promising.
For Brian Kelly, the next year is always going to be the year. Maybe, just maybe, Notre Dame fans had a solid perspective to listen to and consider. Kelly is a good coach, but he also isn’t what he was billed as. Keep the excuses going. They aren’t going to stop anytime soon while he’s leading your program, or any in the future.
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