Brian Kelly

In his first full season, Kelly led Cincinnati to a competitive position in the Big East; the Bearcats' second ever 10-win season (its first since 1949); and a top-25 ranking.

Brian Keith Kelly (born October 25, 1961) is an American college football coach.

He is the head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), a position he has held since the 2022 season.

After graduating from Assumption in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in political science he served as linebackers coach, defensive coordinator, and softball coach from 1983 to 1986.

Kelly joined the Grand Valley State University staff in 1987 as a graduate assistant and defensive backs coach for Tom Beck and became the defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator in 1989.

Kelly served as the head football coach at Grand Valley State University from 1991 to 2003, Central Michigan University from 2004 to 2006, the University of Cincinnati from 2006 to 2009, and the University of Notre Dame from 2010 to 2021.

Kelly took over as head coach in 1991.

In his final three seasons the Lakers went 41–2, at one point winning 32 consecutive games.

The 2001 team set 77 NCAA, GLIAC, and school records, including the all-time Division II scoring record, averaging 58.4 points per game.

Kelly's record in 13 years at Grand Valley State was 118–35–2.

He led the Grand Valley State Lakers to consecutive NCAA Division II Football Championships in 2002 and 2003.

The Lakers went 14–0 in 2002 en route to their first national title and went 14–1 in 2003 when they claimed their second national championship.

Kelly was named the AFCA Division II Coach of the Year after each of these championship years.

In his 13 years as head coach at Grand Valley State, the Lakers won five conference titles and made six Division II Playoff appearances.

Kelly became the 24th head coach at Central Michigan University after the departure of Mike DeBord following the 2003 season.

Kelly inherited a team with limited success.

Central Michigan had won more than three games only once in the previous four seasons.

CMU finished with a 4–7 record in 2004.

In Kelly's second year at Central Michigan, he coached the team to a 6–5 record—the first winning season in seven years for the Chippewas.

In his third season, the Chippewas posted a 9–4 record under Kelly en route to winning the MAC Championship over Ohio and qualifying for the Motor City Bowl.

At the end of the 2006 season, Kelly left to accept the Cincinnati coaching vacancy three days after CMU won the 2006 MAC Championship.

Jeff Quinn was named the interim for Central Michigan's contest in the Motor City Bowl against Middle Tennessee.

Kelly's record at Central Michigan in three seasons was 19–16.

Kelly was named Cincinnati's head coach on December 3, 2006, following the departure of Mark Dantonio.

In an unusual move, Cincinnati elected not to appoint an interim coach and asked Kelly to assume his duties immediately by coaching the Bearcats in their bowl game.Central Michigan was also preparing for a bowl appearance, so while Kelly was in Cincinnati preparing the Bearcats, much of his staff remained at Central Michigan to coach the Chippewas.

Following Central Michigan's 31–14 win in the Motor City Bowl on December 26, most of his staff joined him in Cincinnati, where they went on to coach Cincinnati to a 27–24 victory over Western Michigan University in that year's International Bowl on January 6.

Cincinnati's victory gave Kelly the unique distinction of having defeated the same team twice in a season as coach of two different teams (Central Michigan had defeated Western Michigan 31–7 earlier that season).

On December 5, 2007, Kelly was named Big East Coach of the Year after leading the Bearcats to a 9–3 record.

Coach Kelly later led the Bearcats to a 31–21 victory in the PapaJohns.com Bowl over Southern Miss.

In 2008, Kelly led Cincinnati to its first ever outright Big East title with key wins over #20 West Virginia and #20 Pittsburgh.

The Bearcats had never defeated either team in Big East conference play.

Kelly also became the first coach to win all three of the Bearcats' traveling trophies— the Victory Bell (Miami [OH]), the Keg of Nails (Louisville), and the River City Rivalry Trophy (Pitt).

He won Big East Coach of the Year for the 2008 season.

The Bearcats played in the Orange Bowl versus the ACC champion, #21 Virginia Tech on January 1, 2009, but lost 20–7.

After beginning the 2009 season unranked in all polls, Kelly's Bearcats reeled off 12 straight victories and finished the regular season undefeated.

Kelly's 2012 Notre Dame team reached the 2013 BCS National Championship Game, while his 2018 and 2020 teams made appearances in the College Football Playoff.

Kelly was born in Everett, Massachusetts, and was raised in a Catholic Irish-American family in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

He attended St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts.

His father was a Boston politician.

He was a four-year club football player at Assumption College as a linebacker.