Brian Kelly’s salary at LSU revealed to be 10-year deal worth $95 million

Brian Kelly’s reported salary to become LSU head coach would make him the highest-paid in both college and the NFL.

The college football world was left in a state of shock just hours before the reveal of the College Football Playoff rankings. Brian Kelly, head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, is reportedly leaving the program to take the LSU Tigers job. That report came courtesy of Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel. Now, that has everyone wondering what Kelly will be receiving to lead LSU as their sideline boss.

According to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd, Kelly’s deal with LSU will give him a salary “in the $15 million range.”

Brian Kelly’s reported salary would make him highest-paid coach in football

If that annual salary turns out to be true, Kelly would become the highest-paid coach in not just college football, but also in the NFL. New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was reported in 2018 by ProFootballTalk to have earned an annual salary of $12.5 million. Alabama head coach Nick Saban is the highest-paid college football coach this year with a salary of $9.5 million. Ed Orgeron, who is parting ways with LSU, earned $9 million.

Matt Fortuna and Brody Miller of The Athletic reported on Monday evening that LSU’s offer to Kelly was for 10-years “that will take him north of $100 million.”

Update: The reported salary for Kelly at LSU was higher than the actual sum. The official contract for Kelly is a 10-year deal for $95 million. That’s still a lot of money, but it’s short of making him the highest-paid coach in both college football and the NFL.

News of Kelly leaving for LSU caught many off-guard, including his own assistant coaches. Kelly reportedly sent a message to Notre Dame’s roster confirming the news that he was leaving the program and that he would meet with them on Tuesday morning.

Regardless of the exact amount, LSU threw the bank to secure Kelly as their next head coach for the foreseeable future, in hopes of him leading the team to win another National Championship.

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