Brian Kelly is set to receive $54 million after being informed that LSU terminated him without cause

Brian Kelly has received a formal letting of termination from LSU siting that he was dismissed without cause, CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello has confirmed. That means that Kelly will receive the entirely of his $54 million buyout as long as he fulfills his obligation to find another job. 

The letter reportedly details Kelly’s responsibility to mitigate the buyout, which includes making “good-faith, reasonable and sustained efforts to obtain” employment. LSU expects Kelly to “maintain reasonable documentation” of his job search that includes interviews and offers. 

Kelly and LSU’s breakup has been contentious. Kelly recently filed a lawsuit over the buyout situation to get the full $54 million he is contractually owed. LSU responded by stating that then-athletic director Scott Woodward didn’t have the authority to fire Kelly, whose attorneys sent the school a letter which claimed that dragging out the firing process has hurt his ability to find a new employment. 

LSU had initially wanted to negotiate the buyout terms with Kelly and had been looking into whether they could fire Kelly for cause to avoid paying the buyout. Kelly’s attorneys had insisted the school missed the window to do so. 

Kelly, 64, was fired last month following LSU’s 49-25 loss to Texas A&M, an unceremonious end to what was a disappointing run for a man who is also the winningest coach in Notre Dame history. While the Tigers went 34-14 (that included a 3-0 record in bowl games) under Kelly’s watch, they never finished a season ranked higher than 18th in the country. LSU finished outside of the top-25 last season and was 5-3 at the time of Kelly’s firing. 

Since firing Kelly, the Tigers have gone 2-1 under interim coach Frank Wilson. After dropping their first game without Kelly, a 20-9 loss to Alabama, the Tigers have come back with consecutive wins over Arkansas and Western Kentucky to improve their record to 7-4 entering Saturday’s regular season finale against No. 8 Oklahoma.