Brian Kelly spent the majority of his life as a college football coach.
He’s 64 years old now, but he took his first head coaching job at 35 years old at Grand Valley State University.
He spent the years from 1991 through 2025 as a college football head coach, meaning half of his life was spent wearing the main headset.
Kelly is expected to be on television during the 2026 season after being fired by the LSU Tigers in October of his fourth season in Baton Rouge. He was fired despite owning a 34-14 overall record with the Tigers, but he had begun the 2025 season at 5-3 overall with a 2-3 mark in the SEC.
Whether or not Kelly, who is known to be a bit prickly, will work on television is its own question, but it’s worth noting that the long-time head coach doesn’t sound all that committed to his new career post-coaching.
In fact, in a recent interview with “The Independent,” Kelly didn’t sound closed off to the idea of coaching again.
“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve closed any doors in my own mind, and I think that’s the most important thing,” Kelly said (h/t On3). “You know, I’m very open-minded about what the opportunities might be for me. I have a lot more to give. I’ve been able to focus on my health. My health has come back to be really, really good in all areas.”
Brian Kelly still open to being a college football head coach
Kelly knows better than most the stress and strain that comes with being a college football head coach. Sure, he has his weaknesses, but keep in mind that he coached at an extremely high level for a very long time.
Before his stint at LSU, Kelly was the head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 2010 to 2021.
Health is extremely important for a coach, but along with that, health comes a zest and enthusiasm for the job. If Kelly believes he can take another job and keep those things up, he absolutely sounds willing to get back into it.
“I’ve got good energy. I think that’s the most important thing,” Kelly said. “You’ve got to have energy to be around 18 to 22 year olds every single day. If you don’t bring it every day, they know it, and so I think, I think that’s important. And so with that, I really have an open mind to any of those opportunities.”
