Entering his fourth season in Baton Rouge, Brian Kelly is in need of a strong 2025 season. LSU posted a regular season record of 8-4 last season, and the Tigers have yet to appear in the College Football Playoff in three seasons under Kelly's leadership.
Kelly has a roster infused with key returners such as Garrett Nussmeier, Aaron Anderson, Caden Durham, and Whit Weeks, as well as the top transfer portal class in the country. In total, LSU possesses one of the most talented rosters in the country heading into the 2025 campaign.
Tiger fans have high hopes for the season, and it all starts with a road tilt at No. 4 Clemson this Saturday. Not only are the Tigers 0-3 in season openers under Kelly, but they have dropped five consecutive season opening games. Getting to 1-0 on Saturday won't be easy, but it can be done.
However, one stat doesn't bode well for Kelly and LSU. Saturday will be the fifth matchup between Brian Kelly and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, and the previous four have not gone well for Kelly. He owns a 1-3 record in head-to-head matchups against Swinney. Their matchup history includes four contests from 2015-2020 when Kelly was at Notre Dame.
Oct. 3, 2015: No 12 Clemson defeats No. 6 Notre Dame, 24-22
Dec. 29, 2018: No. 2 Clemson defeats No. 3 Notre Dame, 30-3 (CFP Semifinal, Cotton Bowl Classic)
Nov. 7, 2020: No. 4 Notre Dame defeats No. 1 Clemson, 47-40 (2OT)
Dec. 19, 2020: No. 3 Clemson defeats No. 2 Notre Dame, 34-10 (ACC Championship Game)
Kelly's lone win against Swinney came in November 2020, when his Fighting Irish won a wild double overtime contest in South Bend. Swinney first defeated Kelly in 2015. He picked up wins over Kelly in the 2018 CFP Semifinal as well as the 2020 ACC Championship Game, the season in which Notre Dame temporarily joined the conference following a delayed start to the season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A lot has changed since Kelly and Swinney last met
Despite a 1-3 head-to-head record against Swinney, the 2025 matchup is already vastly different than their previous battles. It's the first meeting between the two Tigers programs since the 2019 CFP National Championship Game, and the first meeting between the two coaches since Kelly arrived at LSU.
College football as a whole has changed massively since their last meeting in 2020, as the new era of NIL and transfer portal chaos rules the sport. Still, both coaches have been able to find success through all of the changes. Swinney led Clemson to another ACC title last season, and has even started to utilize the transfer portal a little bit - something he was reluctant to do early on. Kelly landed Jayden Daniels via the transfer portal in 2022, and he went on to win the Heisman Trophy in a historic 2023 season.
Kelly is 29-11 overall and 17-7 in SEC play in three seasons at LSU, but Tiger fans are hungry for a bigger season in 2025. The Tigers can put the entire country on notice with a win at Clemson on Saturday.