LSU football rumors: Brian Kelly hire reports a gut punch to Fighting Irish

LSU football rumors are heating up and it looks like the Tigers might just have their next coach in Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly — a true gut-punch to the Irish.

When you’re a blue blood program like Notre Dame football, you don’t often have to worry about head coaches leaving for greener pastures or better situations. Notre Dame is one of those “destination” jobs in college football.

Someone apparently forgot to tell Brian Kelly that as LSU football rumors are heating up.

With LSU desperate to find a new head coach this offseason, just about every name has been tossed around as a possible Ed Orgeron replacement. It started with guys like Mel Tucker and Jimbo Fisher and since both of those coaches stated that they had no intention of leaving their respective programs, the Tigers were forced to keep looking.

Other names thrown around were Dave Aranda and even Lincoln Riley, but the former hasn’t said much and the latter just went to USC, spurning Oklahoma.

That left LSU in a tough position, forced to make a splash in the coaching carousel and likely steal a big name from a top program. And it did just that, reportedly swiping Kelly from right under Notre Dame’s nose, according to Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports.

Kelly had been with Notre Dame for over a decade, so this is especially painful for Irish fans who believed that his two playoff appearances over the past four seasons would be enough to keep him on board for the long haul. Plus, his Irish are in the running for a playoff berth this year and, at the very least, a New Year’s Six bowl.

LSU football rumors about Kelly picking up steam

There were reports earlier in the day on Monday that LSU was targeting Kelly and honestly, I didn’t think much of it. Schools can go after coaches but oftentimes, they shoot the rumors down especially if they’re at well-established programs.

I fully expected Kelly to shoot down the rumors and state his intention of staying at Notre Dame because of his continued success in South Bend.

This has to hurt Notre Dame.

As for LSU, this was a huge move because Kelly is a great recruiter and he’s an established head coach with a history of success. He’s going to get LSU back to the top of the SEC, contending for titles every year. But he’s going to have to prove he can consistently beat Georgia or Alabama or his LSU career will be short-lived.