It's been less than a week since Brian Kelly was officially fired by LSU football and things have been a bit of a mess in Baton Rouge. While everyone tries to sort through things in terms of the new coach search, plenty of people are still focused on what went wrong for Kelly with the Tigers.
Gov. Jeff Landry makes startling admission during LSU coaching search
Enter Ed Orgeron to give his thoughts on things. While Coach O made it clear he'd take the job if LSU offered it to him, that's not going to happen. However, Orgeron didn't hesitate in saying one of the main reasons Kelly's time on campus didn't go to plan was because he was never all-in on the state of Louisiana. It's hard to argue with this:
Coach O: It never seemed like Brian Kelly embraced the state of Louisiana
— Baton Rouge Boot Krewe Media (@BatonRougeBKM) October 29, 2025
(via Unsportsmanlike - ESPN) pic.twitter.com/VJ6tcaTqP6
"When they meet with a candidate, is this a person who can handle the pressures of LSU and embrace the state of Louisiana," Orgeron said. "I think that's one of the things - whether or not it's true and it looked like it from the outside - Brian Kelly never embraced the state of Louisiana and when you get those guys on your side, it's very powerful."
Tell us how you really feel, Ed. It's not a surprise that Orgeron said this, as a lot of people feel the same way. Kelly doesn't have any ties to the south and he seemed to forget just how important building bonds across the state was.
So many former players have been celebrating the news of him getting fired has been pretty eye-opening. Not only that, but interim head coach Frank Wilson has apparently been on the horn with former players asking them to come back to town to meet with the team.
Kelly never did that and rumors flew that he actually didn't allow LSU greats to attend practices, which is absurd. LSU is now looking far and wide for a Kelly replacement who can come in and get this program back to a championship level.
The writing was on the wall for Kelly, as LSU has not lived up to the hype with him leading the Tigers and the fact that fans were calling for him to get fired was a terrible look for LSU as a whole. Orgeron may not be the next head man at LSU, but he wants whoever takes the job to remember that Louisiana is a great state and focusing on the relationships with local players and coaches must be a top priority.