Si:am | Another Top College Football Coach Canned

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I was truthful sad to spot rookie sensation Cam Skattebo time off yesterday pinch an evidently superior lower-body injury. 

In today’s SI:AM: 
🪓 LSU axes Kelly
🐯 Candidates for Tigers’ adjacent coach
🐬 Tua saves his coach’s job?

If you’re reference this connected SI.com, click present to subscribe and person SI:AM straight successful your inbox each morning.

Coaches of assemblage shot teams pinch less-than-stellar records should slumber pinch 1 oculus open, because nary 1 is safe. 

LSU joined nan increasing list of big-name schools looking for a caller coach aft firing Brian Kelly connected Sunday. The last straw was a blowout nonaccomplishment to Texas A&M connected Saturday, during which LSU fans streamed toward nan exits before nan extremity of nan 3rd quarter. Those who remained chanted “Fire Kelly!”

It was LSU’s 3rd nonaccomplishment successful its past 4 games, but each 3 losses came against playoff contenders (Ole Miss and Vanderbilt were nan different two). The losses mightiness person been understandable to extracurricular observers, but LSU hired Kelly to triumph games for illustration those, and losing each 3 of them knocked nan Tigers retired of playoff contention. That was capable to get nan schoolhouse to trim ties pinch him little than 4 years into a 10-year contract. 

Kelly’s business astatine LSU apparently deteriorated quickly connected Sunday. The coach met pinch diversion head Scott Woodward connected Sunday day and Woodward reportedly asked Kelly to occurrence violative coordinator Joe Sloan. Bruce Feldman and Ralph D. Russo of The Athletic described nan gathering arsenic “very tense.”

“After Woodward told nan caput coach to occurrence his play caller, Kelly fired backmost that he wanted to make different unit moves Woodward wasn’t comfortable with. The business past escalated, pinch nan caput coach pushing backmost difficult against his boss,” The Athletic reported. 

LSU confirmed later Sunday nighttime that Kelly had been fired. There’s still 1 very important item to beryllium ironed out, however. 

Kelly is owed a $53 cardinal buyout for nan remaining six-plus years of his contract. The school’s announcement said that nan financial position of his departure were still being decided. The buyout is nan second-biggest successful nan history of assemblage football, trailing only Jimbo Fisher’s $76 cardinal from Texas A&M. 

It’s a batch of money, but nan buyout isn’t arsenic overmuch of an albatross arsenic nan earthy dollar fig suggests. Kelly’s statement dictates that immoderate buyout payments would beryllium made monthly, and there’s besides offset connection that would alteration LSU’s responsibility if Kelly lands different job. 

Kelly’s firing makes LSU nan eighth unfastened power-conference coaching job, but easy nan astir desirable. The different 2 marquee openings are astatine Penn State and Florida, pinch UCLA, Virginia Tech and Arkansas successful nan adjacent tier. The Tigers, Nittany Lions and Gators could prosecute successful a bidding warfare for immoderate of nan aforesaid apical targets for illustration Ole Miss’s Lane Kiffin, Tulane’s Jon Sumrall and Louisville’s Jeff Brohm. 

The sheer number of apical jobs unfastened astatine this constituent connected nan almanac intends we could person a genuinely chaotic coaching carousel. Oklahoma State and Stanford are nan different 2 Power 4 schools looking for a caller coach. And we’re conscionable 9 weeks into nan season. Coaches for illustration Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell, Florida State’s Mike Norvell and Auburn’s Hugh Freeze are besides connected nan basking seat. You ne'er cognize who mightiness subordinate them aft a late-season collapse. That’s bully news for Kelly, who will beryllium looking for a caller location aft getting fired for nan first clip successful his career. 

The champion of Sports Illustrated

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

… things I saw yesterday:  
5. A beautiful deke by nan Canucks’ Kiefer Sherwood to people against nan Oilers. 
4. A ferocious dunk by Cooper Flagg. 
3. Saquon Barkley’s 65-yard touchdown run connected nan Eagles’ 2nd play of nan day. 
2. Jonathan Taylor’s balance on nan sideline connected an 80-yard touchdown run. 
1. A really smart play by Bengals moving backmost Chase Brown to abort a flea flicker and tally for a first down.