Brian Kelly’s LSU tenure may have begun with “great expectations,” but even the coach admits he fell pretty short.
Kelly, fired after losing to Texas A&M in the midst of a 5-3 start, offered up his first public reaction to his termination.
“This journey began with great expectations with my own vision of how to get there,” Kelly said in a statement posted to social media on Thursday. “Sometimes the journey does not end the way we hope.”
Kelly’s four-year tenure ended with a 34-14 mark, and his teams fell well short of national championship expectations.
“The losses will always hurt, but I will remember all of the wins,” he wrote, “I don’t need to tell any of you how special Saturday nights in Tiger Stadium are. I am honored to have worn the purple and gold and been a part of it.”
Kelly is due $54 million as part of a buyout package — an issue that helped lead to the ouster of LSU athletic director Scott Woodward — though in an email to school brass, he said he’d be open to a settlement.
“As we discussed in our meeting, I’m open to your desire to reach a settlement of what’s owed to me under the contract, although of course it would have to make sense financially,” his Oct. 26 email said.
LSU promoted interim AD Verge Ausberry to the full-time position earlier this week before, with Frank Wilson helming the football program as interim coach.
“As everyone heads on their way to see the Tigers play, I wish Coach Wilson, the coaches and our players the best this weekend,” Kelly said in his statement. “I know they will do their best for themselves and for LSU. We will be watching and cheering for you.
“This journey may have ended, but it’s a journey that will stay with me and my family forever.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
