The Hiring and Firing of LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly.

The firing represents another failure on the part of LSU Athletic Directors to hire a head coach with the capabilities to produce a consistent winning football program.  The same thing took place when they hired and then fired head coach Ed Orgeron after winning a national championship in 2019 when the team played only 500 ball the next two seasons.  Then it came to be Kelly's time to be fired three and half years later.  This writer believes Kelly should have been allowed to complete the season as it would have no adverse effect on hiring a new coach or recruitment.  It is all part of the hype cast upon sports today.

LSU's sad and pathetic performance on Saturday night in Tiger stadium in the second half was the worse this writer has ever witnessed in the 60 plus years of following the team.  And the fault lies with both the players and the coaching staff.  Think about the conditions why it should never have taken place.  (1)  LSU needed the win to  remain in the playoff hunt. (2)  They were playing at their own home stadium and fans.  (3)  They were playing another SEC opponent.  (4)  They were leading at half time 18-14 going into the locker room.  They had all the reasons to come out in the second half ready to finish the game, but failed big time.

Baton Rouge sport writers and other sports reporting organizations did a poor job of evaluating LSU's progress under coach Kelly, especially in their predictions for this year's team when most predicted that LSU would complete the regular season with an 11-1 or 10-2 won loss record and would make the CFP.  What did they base that on when last year's team went 8-4. a regression from the previous two seasons when the team went 9-3.  Under Kelly, LSU has been an "off and on" team in every phase of the game and especially to last year's team so how could they be expected to do so well.  And when you consider the changes at offensive and defensive coordinators, that just adds to the problem.

For the past few seasons, LSU football has not kept pace with the progress made by other SEC teams who have leaped ahead of LSU.  College sports is now in a different era, a different time, a different world and here are the challenges Athletic Departments are facing.  They have to have the knowledge and wisdom to be able to select the right head coach who has the wisdom and experience to hire the best qualified assistant coaches to run the program.  Those schools who do not have the qualified AD's will be the schools who are just pissing in the wind.

All is not well in Tiger town.  Time will tell if LSU is capable of turning it around.  Keep in mind, Nick Saban did not leave LSU because he wanted to return to the NFL as the saying goes.  He had been there and done that.  He wanted out and bid his time and one day Alabama called.  There may be more trouble in Tiger town than any one thinks.

This commentary  written by Joe Lorio