Former LSU coach Brian Kelly doesn’t like watching college football
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The LSU Tigers have been the biggest story in college football since last season ended, thanks to Lane Kiffin. While the school seems like it has spent more time in court than on the field this season, the Tigers had no trouble with Clemson in Week 1 and are already moving up in the polls.
One person watching it all unfold is Brian Kelly, the new CBS Sports analyst and Kiffin’s predecessor in Baton Rouge. Kelly was interviewed on SiriusXM earlier this week and revealed that he is not enjoying being away from the sideline. Not because he’s unhappy seeing Kiffin succeed in his old job, but because it doesn’t feel right to be watching college football.
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“I’ll be honest. I had a hard time watching it,” admitted Kelly, per College Sports on SiriusXM on X. “But I don’t think it was just LSU. It was the first weekend, truly, of college football. And it was hard. You know, you’ve been doing it for 35 years. And not to be part of that process. My wife, she wanted to kill me. She was like, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ And what was wrong was that I wasn’t on the sideline. And I had to deal with it and get through.
Kelly, who went 34-14 at LSU, was effusive in his praise of the Tigers, saying they looked great against Clemson. If he’s bitter about how things turned out for him at the school, he’s doing a good job hiding it. He was fired after a 5-3 start last season and walked away with a $54 million buyout, so that has to make it a little easier.
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The only problem for Kelly seems to be that money can’t buy the same feeling he gets being on the sideline. He has been a head coach in Division I college football since he took over at Central Michigan in 2004. Before that, he spent 12 years as the head coach at Division II Grand Valley State. Then another six years as a D-II assistant.
Basically, he hasn’t been home on a fall Saturday since the early 80s. No wonder it doesn’t feel right.
Kelly, who made his broadcast debut in Week 0, will be back in the booth Saturday when CBS covers No. 13 Texas Tech at Oregon State game at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
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