Copy of petition posted below.
Former LSU Head Football Coach Brian Kelly made it clear he wants his money and wants it now. Coach Kelly filed a petition for declaratory judgment against the LSU Board of Supervisors in the 19th Judicial District of Louisiana yesterday. The petition accuses the university of reneging on its duty to pay him his $53 million buyout after it fired him without cause in October. Talk about a battle on the bayou.
Coach Kelly filed a petition for declaratory judgment in the 19th Judicial District of Louisiana (East Baton Rouge Parish) yesterday.
LSU hired Coach Kelly in 2021 after firing Head Football Coach Ed Orgeron. The university signed Brian Kelly to a ten-year contract that paid over $9 million per year with various incentives. The buyout clause stood at $53 million during the 2025 season.
Although he came to LSU in hopes of winning a national championship as the three previous head coaches did, Brian Kelly failed to do so. The 2025 football season began with high expectations as the coach repeatedly said his team was going to make the college football playoffs.
Unfortunately, the season quickly went south, culminating in an embarrassing 49-25 loss to Texas A&M on national tv. The Aggies thoroughly whipped the Tigers in the second half, running the fans out as the Aggie fight song echoed through the stadium. It was LSU's third SEC loss and effectively ended its hopes of making the playoffs.
Coach Kelly met with Athletic Director Scott Woodward and other Athletic Department officials the next day. Mr. Woodward fired the coach, "acknowledging that his termination was without cause." However, there was the matter of the buyout clause. LSU owed Coach Kelly $53 million if it terminated him without cause. No cause means there is a clause.
Indeed, the petition alleges
LSU has never claimed that Coach Kelly was terminated for cause and, prior to November 10, 2025, never asserted that he engaged in any conduct that would warrant such a termination. To the contrary, LSU repeatedly confirmed, both publicly and to Coach Kelly, that the termination was due to the Team's performance, not for cause.
while accusing LSU of refusing to honor the buyout clause:
2. Coach Kelly's Employment and IP License Agreement......, expressly provides that in the event of a termination without cause, LSU must pay him certain liquidated damages. Despite this unambiguous requirement, LSU is now refusing to confirm that (i) Coach Kelly's termination was without cause, and (ii) it will pay the full liquidated damages required under the Agreement-payments to which Coach Kelly has full legal entitlement.
The contract required LSU to notice Coach Kelly in writing of "cause" seven. weeks prior to his termination. Mr. Kelly had seven days to respond after receiving the notice. Only after the contractually-required due process was followed could the LSU President fire the football coach.
Brian Kelly claims LSU had no reason to fire him for cause. He did not plead guilty to a felony, commit fraud, or participate in "serious misconduct." LSU never cited any "cause" when it terminated Mr. Kelly.
LSU owes Coach Kelly $53 million if it fired him without case. The petition states the former coach was willing to make a settlement "if it made sense financially." LSU allegedly offered first a lump sum payment of $25 million and then $30 million. In exchange for accepting the offer, Mr. Kelly would not be required to seek other employment to mitigate the cost of the buyout. The petition notes Governor Jeff Landry acknowledged the $53 million amount owed to the former LSU football coach in a press conference on October 29.
It all came to a head yesterday when Brian Kelly's mouthpiece talked to LSU's mouthpiece on the phone. The petition alleges:
LSU took the position that Coach Kelly had not been formally terminated and informed Coach Kelly's representatives, for the very first time, that LSU believed grounds for termination for cause existed. LSU also informed Coach Kelly's representatives that it did not believe that then-Athletics Director Woodward had the authority to terminate Coach Kelly and/or make settlement offers to him. Coach Kelly's representatives informed LSU that Coach Kelly disagreed with each of LSU's new positions, including (i) the idea that he somehow had not been terminated, (ii) that the then-Athletics Director Woodward was not acting with authority (in a meeting attended by several LSU athletics officials, including the current Athletics Director Ausberry), and (iii) that there were any grounds for termination with cause (or that LSU could manufacture any such grounds after his termination), thus necessitating this action.
Coach Kelly asked the Court to declare LSU fired him without cause and that he is entitled to receive his buyout from the university. The petition also asks for attorney's fees.
Attorneys Michael Walshe, Jr. and Walter Metzinger, III of Stone Pigman Walther Wittman in New Orleans represent Brian Kelly.
* Scott Woodward was fired October 30.
54 comments:
Stone Pigman is an excellent law firm. This is going to be interesting.
Meh
LSU gonna have a whole lot of bake sales to settle this one.
Was he on double secret probation?
Upside to all this mess that no one is talking about:
Finding the next LSU football coach just got easier!
They just have to pay off 100% of the next contract before the next guy shows for first day on the job.
Or they can always get the next guy from Task Monkey!
Not to be that guy, as I do enjoy watching college football, but Louisiana (just like Mississippi) has so many issues that need to be addressed, and one ride through any of their cities outside of Lafayette will reveal that. This all seems so silly in the grand scheme of things. Why has our society cratered into this nonsense. There are real, extremely urgent, tangible issues that need to be addressed, and we are paying a football coach $53m? This comment won't change that, but oh boy is this all so tiresome. Our priorities are "F'd up".
Since he's not fired, he should show up on the sidelines, ready to coach!
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
The money these "universities" and their "boosters" are willing to throw away to pursue a winning football team is scandalous. If anybody thinks an SEC school besides Vandy regards education as their first priority think again.
NOT a good look for LSU.
Do the Skadden Arps lawyers know about the Napoleonic Code?
Emotions gonna cause LSU and the people millions. Governor rolling in and grandstanding. And he’s making 9% interest plus all his attorneys fees on this….he can sit around until the saints have a winning season and make out like a bandit.
It's almost like the governor of Lousyanna doesn't like LSU for some reasone 🤡 🤡 🤡
This is as ridiculous as Dallas quarterback getting paid $60,000,000/year. Couldn’t they get by on 1/2 of these salaries, which would still be “The Height of The Ridiculous?”
Sooner, or later a big check is going to be written to the x coach. Maybe these huge compensation packages need to be reconsidered. Ha Ha! Am I really stupid enough to think college sports retains any sanity? No. LSU and its supporters (like all other schools) will continue to make bad bets on idiot coaches without a second thought.
They are just making it worse by coming up with this BS litigation position, which is an obvious lie.
Yada Yada...All you wannabe contract attorneys, Monday morning quarterbacks and others who envision your likeness being on a Wheaties box can stuff it and walk backwards like a walrus with an apple up his ass.
Kelly is about to own half the state of Lew-Zanner.
Hold on, Luther. It's about to git real and more than an 'excellent law firm' is needed to pull this railroad spike out the A.D.'s ass.
Tigerdroppings is gonna be fire on the bayou for awhile.
And what new coaching candidate won't put the same language in their contract?
@2:58 “Not to be that guy” then proceeds to be that guy. Sports are important. Sports are fun. Lighten up.
Using your families money to pay college kids to play for your school is bizarre.
I guess we can expect the charitable funds balance at Our Lady of the Lake to be raided again.
Rumors are rampant, even at the OT Lounge.
Some might even be based on something real.
Like the time that there were claims that a judge was posting about a celebrity adoption and collegiate golf on social media!
@3:44pm Are sports this important? $53m in university funds being burned on a fired coach? Imagine the buildings that $53m could have gone to for the campus or maybe some collegiate research? You know, to actually advance our society and solve some real problems? Sports are certainly important for our youth, but they stop being "important" after high school. You can't call billions of dollars being flushed down the shitter every year on a game "important" or even close to being "essential". Again, check your priorities.
Private donors are paying it. No taxpayer funds involved.
"Yada Yada...All you wannabe contract attorneys . . . "
I can't identify a single comment that says Brian Kelly isn't on solid ground here.
So what are you bitching about?
@4:27 Yes, sports are important. Hope that answers your question.
Dallas quarterback getting paid $164,383 per day!!! Can’t much blame him for taking it, but I Pity The Fools that are paying it. Ridiculous!!!
LSU sems to be continuing it shoot itself in the foot as far as hiring a future coach. First, Gov Landry says these huge contracts are ridiculous and these huge buyouts/guarantees are ridiculous and that he won't let them happen again at LSU. I don't necessarily disagree with him, but as long as other schools are willing to agree to them, then potential new coaches will want them and insist on them to come to LSU. Otherwise, they'll just go to another school that will agree to them. Then Landry fires the AD, Scott Woodward. I'm not saying I disagree with that either. But now LSU has no President and no AD and a Governor who seems to want to be in control and won't pay "big money", all of which appears to create a very unstable environment for any future coach.
Now, LSU tries to renege on its agreement with Kelly ??? Any potential new coach is now even more worried in my opinion. If things don't work out for him, does LSU then try to renege on his deal too ? What a mess.
Oh, and since LSU fired Woodward, he now becomes Kelly's
star witness. LSU just kicked him to the curb too, so I'm sure he has no love for the school right now and will agree with what Kelly says/claims. Pay him the $54 million LSU and cut your losses. This is only getting worse.
LSU will just pay the $53 million out of its alumni funds.
He should call JG Wentworth…when you want your money now.
We are going back to the days of Joe Dean when we hired a coach based on how cheap we could get him for.
College football programs are just the latest vanity project for billionaires.
I’m aware donors (or previous donations) are paying it. All that money could still be used for better things in this world.
Never liked Brian Kelly but pulling for him on this one. Hope he drains em dry.
Hope Kelly gigs them for the full amount. A contract is a contract. Whoever or however the money is paid, we can hope it negatively affects their NIL program.
Landry needs to be worried about LDWF and the NOI on the 1/2mile menhaden buffer zone and the battle between the charter and recreational fishing industry and the pogey boats lining pockets. It’s fixing to come to a head. LA corruption on full display. He’ll get voted out if he doesn’t do something coupled with this LSU coaching fiasco he stuck his neck in.
So Kingfish, are the LA Gov and other powers that be trying to get this to the point where Kelly gets a judgment, but doesn't get paid because the legislature won't appropriate the money? The state would be on the hook in this case instead of LSU boosters. Or do I have this confused?
Who's 'bitching'?....Well, other than you.
I thought the same thing. go to practice today with your lawyers and video. Bet they let him know real quick he was fired. Not a Kelly fan, but hope he wins.
Florida, Arkansas & Auburn are loving this. LSU taking themselves out of the coach market.
So was LSU's plan to get sued to begin with? Since Legislature has to fund any lawsuit settlement, did LSU just pull a slick one? Be found liable but then blame Legislature/Governor for not paying up or save boosters money and force it to come from the State pocketbook? Not an attorney but seems like the could be trying to pull a fast one?
If Kelly wins, but never gets paid, you can close down LSU football and other sports. Can't imagine any agent or coach going there knowing the buyout is garbage if LSU gets away with this.
That's what Moscona was saying yesterday. Some of his LSU sources, and I suspect Gordon was one of them, told him a judgment meant nothing without the appropriation.
Why did Landry insert himself in this? Doesn't he have more important things to focus on? So, are they saying now that BK walked out on the job and was not fired?
Does anyone outside of Baton Rouge really give a shit about this?
Gonna stiff the guy? See if anyone else signs up for this school. The history teacher will be the coach when he gets done grading papers. Or maybe Billy AI will fill the role.
This is low brow, even for Louisianna politics. You can hang up getting any real coaching talent in the future if they pull this stunt.
Pay the man please !
Apparently you do …..
I'm torn on my opinion on these big buyouts. I see the protection aspect for the coaches being that schools today are very knee-jerk and shortsighted with the programs. Win now or else. Even successful coaches (based on W/L record) are at risk of getting canned. Look what happened at Penn State last month.
But there is also part of me that wonders about coaches asking for these big deals. Like they are protecting themselves against their own probable failure so they take out a huge insurance policy. It makes them like tenured professors, in a way. Way too overprotected. In this case, by an exorbitant buy-out that makes ADs and Presidents a little hesitant when it comes to personnel.
Not that it matters, but I don't like Kelly. I believe he should have had to answer for the young man losing his life at Notre Dame. Yet, I believe a deal is a deal, they should pay the man.
Don't look now, because it even looks like Vandy is slipping in the new world of NIL.
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