Brian Kelly isn’t exactly hiding his interest in Florida State.
The former LSU coach addressed the Seminoles’ opening Tuesday on Sirius XM radio’s College Sports Radio, and he made it clear the job has his attention after Florida State fired Mike Norvell on Sunday.
“Yeah, I mean, look, when you’re talking to an unemployed football coach, every job’s a great job, you know? But Florida State, look, I’ve got a great history with Florida State, great games,” Kelly said. “I know what that’s like - the history and tradition of Florida State, playing in that state, and the fan base.”
Florida State moved on from Norvell after a 3-5 start and a 1-4 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season. That followed a 5-7, 2-6 season in 2025 and a 2-10, 1-7 season in 2024.
Norvell had come close to the College Football Playoff in 2023, when the Seminoles finished 13-1 and 8-0, and he also went 10-3 and 5-3 in 2022. He arrived in 2020 and opened with back-to-back losing seasons, going 3-6 and 2-6, then 5-7 and 2-4 in 2021.
Kelly, 65, was fired by LSU the day after a 49-25 home loss to No. 3 Texas A&M, a defeat that knocked the Tigers out of CFP contention at 5-3 and 2-3 in the Southeastern Conference. LSU let him go without cause with six years remaining on his 10-year, $100 million contract from then-athletic director Scott Woodward.
His LSU tenure ended with a 34-14 record from 2022-25, good for a .708 winning percentage, and a 19-10 mark in SEC play for .655. Before that, he spent 2010-21 at Notre Dame, where he went 92-39, posted seven seasons of 10 wins or more and reached the CFP twice, including a loss to Alabama in the 2012 season national championship game.
Kelly said the appeal of a program like Florida State is obvious.
“So, anytime you have an incredibly brand driven, great tradition and history, there’s a want and desire to be part of somebody that has had that success,” Kelly said. “And certainly leading that program, from anyone’s perspective, would be an honor and privilege.”
He also pushed back on the idea that Florida State’s brand has faded beyond recognition.
“Well, there’s still brand recognition,” Kelly said. “There’s no doubt about that.
I don’t think that’s changed. I mean, certainly that is recognizable to anybody that’s involved in any form of athletics.
The factors that we have to deal with today is the Indiana factor. If we had this conversation a few years ago, we’d say, ‘Well, Indiana has no brand recognition as it relates to football and they can’t win there.’
But yet they won the national championship (last season). Nothing’s what it used to be!
Everything has changed.”
Kelly’s buyout from LSU is still largely intact, though his current role as a CBS Sports color analyst for college football reduces what LSU owes him. If he were to land the Florida State job, LSU’s buyout obligation would be offset by Florida State’s salary offer, and schools have sometimes used that setup to hire coaches on discounted deals so the former school covers the gap.
There’s also a little history here. Kelly lost to Florida State twice while coaching LSU, falling 24-23 in his debut with the Tigers in the 2022 season opener at the Superdome in New Orleans and then 45-24 in Orlando to open the 2023 season. At Notre Dame, he went 3-2 against the Seminoles.
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