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12 coaches under the most pressure to make the 12-team playoff in 2024

Which FBS coaches are under the most pressure heading into the 2024 season with expectations that they will lead their programs to the new 12-team College Football Playoffs?

By Sam Fariss

Dec 2, 2023; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart.
Dec 2, 2023; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart. / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
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5. Brian Kelly

Nov 4, 2023; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly.
Nov 4, 2023; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly. / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Since taking control of the LSU Tigers in 2022, Brian Kelly and his staff have fallen just short of sitting atop the SEC and marching his team to the playoffs.

Finishing at 10-4 in the 2022 and 10-3 in the 2023 regular seasons, the Tigers were repeatedly only a game or two away from being in the CFP conversation.

LSU is a good, if not great, football program historically, and Kelly leaving Notre Dame for Baton Rouge needs to stand for something. Tiger fans will be in upheaval if they have to witness yet another season without a playoff-contending team.

Not only will Kelly need to lead his team to a top-25 finish in the regular season, he needs to bring his team up to a top-12 spot.

This would be the Tigers’ second-ever playoff appearance, their first coming in 2020 when they lost in the National Championship to Clemson.

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