Top 5 college football head coaching villains heading into 2022

3. Brian Kelly, LSU

Now we’re getting into the true villains who you’d be hard-pressed to find an opposing fanbase that likes them.

While Jim Harbaugh might fit that description, he’s no Brian Kelly.

Any head coach of Notre Dame (minus Marcus Freeman because he’s unfortunately likable) usually carries the “villain” tag and Kelly is a prime example.

I think everyone’s disdain for Kelly began when a student assistant was forced to film practice from a tower on a windy day back in 2010. The student ended up being knocked from the tower because of the wind and losing his life in a tragedy that could have been prevented by the head coach. It’s easy to dwell on a lack of better judgment by Kelly, but he’s unlikable for many other reasons, too.

For one, he left Notre Dame high-and-dry (which is usually celebrated because, well, it’s Notre Dame) but he did so in a scummy fashion. He left the Irish before their New Year’s Six bowl and kind of threw shade at the program, saying he went to LSU because he wanted to win a national title. Second, he’s known for throwing his own players under the bus after losses and calling out his guys to the media. Not good. And third, he spouted the fakest, cringe-y Louisiana accent during his welcome speech at halftime of an LSU basketball game right after he was hired.

Kelly is just not a likable dude and pretty much no one outside of Baton Rouge is a fan.