Georgia's Kirby Smart reflects on personal experience with LSU's expectations after Brian Kelly fired as coach

Georgia coach Kirby Smart weighed in Monday on LSU's decision to fire Brian Kelly, offering insight shaped by his own experience as LSU's defensive backs coach in 2004. Smart was asked for his perspective on the recent wave of midseason firings in college football, with a dozen FBS jobs opening earlier than usual. He acknowledged the pressures that come with elite programs.

"I know it's high expectations," Smart said. "I coached at LSU, a guy once told me ... 'That office you're in, that's not your office -- you're borrowing it.' And I knew right then that if you didn't win, you wouldn't be there long."

LSU announced Kelly's firing Sunday evening after a 5-3 start to the 2025 season that included Saturday's 49-25 loss to No. 3 Texas A&M, a defeat that ended any realistic hopes of College Football Playoff contention. Kelly is owed a buyout exceeding $50 million, among the largest in college football history. Athletic director Scott Woodward cited unmet expectations and consistent shortfalls relative to LSU's championship standards in explaining the move.

Smart, who left LSU after the 2004 season, returning to Georgia in 2005 and later reuniting with Nick Saban in the NFL, emphasized that while he is aware of the pressures, he does not have insight into LSU's internal deliberations.

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"It's the world we live in," Smart said. "Everybody's got a voice. Everybody listens to somebody. I don't know enough about that situation, to be honest with you -- that specific situation. ... It's obviously a tough situation on everybody. Let's be honest -- it's the players dealing with it, fans dealing with it, coaches dealing with it at this time in the middle of a season. I think there's so much built around the playoffs, and it's like everything's boom or bust. You can't have a normal season. People have to make decisions earlier based on how somebody does."

Kelly's tenure at LSU had highs and lows. He led the Tigers to as high as No. 3 in the AP Top 25 this season after LSU won a season opener for the first time in five years. The Tigers reached the SEC Championship Game in his first season in 2022, but failed to win more than nine regular-season games or make the College Football Playoff in any of his four seasons, a key factor in the decision to fire him.

His departure also marked the first time an LSU coach had left without a national championship since Gerry DiNardo in the late 1990s, underscoring the program's enduring pursuit of elite success.