Ed Orgeron knew Brian Kelly's LSU tenure was doomed from the start
Ed Orgeron knew Brian Kelly's LSU tenure wouldn't end well from the start. Here's what Orgeron said about Kelly's "southern accent."
When LSU football hired Brian Kelly in 2021, it marked a steep depature from previous head coach Ed Orgeron. Orgeron was a Louisiana man through and through. He embodied the state.
Kelly, a Massachusetts native, was coming from Notre Dame and had never coached in the South. There were questions about Kelly's "cultural fit. " The culture talk only got louder when, not long after being hired, Kelly slipped into a faux southern accent when addressing LSU fans at a basketball game.
The viral clip saw Kelly put a little twang on his pronunciation of family. Those who said Kelly wouldn't fit in turned out to be right. LSU found brief success in 2022, winning the SEC West, but that was LSU's ceiling under Kelly.
LSU fired Kelly after eight games in 2025, eventually hiring Lane Kiffin. And now, Orgeron is back, too. LSU finalized a deal to give Orgeron a spot on Kiffin's first LSU staff, bringing the national title-winning coach back to Baton Rouge.