LSU to hire Notre Dame’s Kelly
LSU is hiring Brian Kelly away from Notre Dame, a stunning move as one of the most accomplished coaches in college football jumps from the sport’s most storied program to an SEC powerhouse.
A person familiar with the decision told the Associated Press on Monday night that Kelly was leaving Notre Dame for LSU. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because neither school was prepared to make an official announcement. Yahoo! Sports first reported the move.
It was the second bombshell in college football in as many days, coming a little more than 24 hours after USC lured Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma.
Kelly, 60, became the winningest coach in Notre Dame history earlier this season, surpassing Knute Rockne. In 12 seasons with the Fighting Irish, Kelly is 113-40, including the current run of five straight double-digit victory seasons.
Notre Dame just completed an 11-1 season Saturday and is in contention to reach the College Football Playoff for the third time in the past four years.
Welcome to L.A.: Newly hired USC coach Lincoln Riley arrived on campus and conceded that his decision to leave Oklahoma’s head coaching job behind was not an easy one.
“It was tough to leave the place I was,” Riley said. “At the same time, I knew this was the right thing.”
Riley, 38, who went 55-10 and won four Big 12 titles with the Sooners, said he didn’t hesitate when forced to make a swift decision to join the Trojans, who expressed their fervent interest in him shortly after he arrived home Sunday morning from Oklahoma’s narrow loss to Oklahoma State.
“I call plays in a lot less than a day, and those are life-changing decisions, too,” Riley said. “This one felt like I had an eternity.”
Coaching news: Washington hired Fresno State’s Kalen DeBoer as its head coach to replace Jimmy Lake, who was fired Nov. 14.
DeBoer, 47, is 12-6 in two seasons at Fresno State, including 9-3 this year. Prior to coaching the Bulldogs, his head coaching experience was at Sioux Falls, where he had a 67-3 record and three times was the NAIA’s Coach of the Year.
“My family and I are so grateful for the opportunity to lead such a storied program and be part of this prestigious institution,” DeBoer said in a statement. “The tough, hardnosed tradition of Washington football speaks for itself, and it was obvious throughout this process that UW is committed to competing at the highest level.”
Former Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez, fired by the school in January 2018 after he was accused of sexual harassment, was hired as the head coach at Jacksonville State.
Rodriguez, 58, who also has been the head coach at West Virginia and Michigan, just finished his first season as Louisiana-Monroe’s offensive coordinator.
SMU hired Rhett Lashlee as its head coach, bringing back its former offensive coordinator to replace Sonny Dykes, the former Cal coach who was introduced as TCU’s coach.
Lashlee had been Miami’s offensive coordinator for two seasons after serving in the same role for the Mustangs during Dykes’ first two seasons in 2018 and 2019.
Temple fired coach Rod Carey. The Owls were 3-9 this year and 12-20 in Carey’s three seasons at the school.
Boston College’s Jeff Hafley agreed to a contract extension through the 2026 season.
Briefly: Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler announced that he is entering the transfer portal . ... Georgia Tech running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who finished third in the nation in all-purpose yards, announced plans to enter the transfer portal.