Perhaps CBS knows something about Brian Kelly that the rest of us don’t. Maybe it sees a budding broadcasting star who just needs more reps and the right setting. Or, more likely, it simply called the first available guy with a recognizable name.
CBS’s decision to hire Kelly is curious at best. He is expected to join a three-person booth to call Mountain West games. According to Front Office Sports, Kelly will also serve as a regular analyst on CBS Sports Network’s weekday show Inside College Football. Hiring ex-coaches for broadcasts is commonplace, but Kelly’s hiring raises some eyebrows. Why bring in someone who has made it clear that his top priority is returning to college coaching? Kelly is first and foremost a coach, not a broadcaster — and he is arguably very good at the former.
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Don’t take our word for it. Here’s what Kelly said: “I still want to make a difference. All the young men that have been under my charge over 35 years, I feel like I have a lot still to give. Even with all this money in college football, they still need mentorship, still need development. Money aside, I have a lot to give. And my motivation is to want to get back to building relationships and successful programs in college football.”
Kelly is also an unpaid consultant for Memphis, which further indicates his long-term goals. He likely wants to follow in the path of Dan Mullen, who worked for ESPN and ABC before being hired by UNLV in December 2024.
While Kelly’s stint at LSU was underwhelming, he was successful at Central Michigan, Cincinnati, and Notre Dame. This shift to broadcasting could be viewed cynically as a contractual obligation rather than a lifelong passion. As part of his $54 million buyout with LSU, Kelly must seek employment in coaching or media to offset what the school owes.
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TV has always been a soft, temporary landing spot for fired coaches looking to get back into the game. However, in the college game, it seems even more transactional, as they spend their time waiting to see which job opportunities emerge the following year. They can stay connected to the game, get a good view of teams’ rosters, and remain on the radar of athletic directors, school presidents, and potential recruits.
It used to be that if you were an ousted coach in need of a makeover, you could always join Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama. Guys like Mario Cristobal, Lane Kiffin, and Steve Sarkisian rode Saban’s coattails to rehabilitate their images and secure jobs. But with Saban no longer at Alabama, that option wasn’t available to Kelly, making TV a solid fallback for a 64-year-old coach.
Does Kelly have anything substantial to offer CBS? His previous stints on TV weren’t particularly memorable. There wasn’t a groundswell of viewers eager to hear Kelly’s latest analysis. Kelly also doesn’t have the best reputation for his interpersonal skills. That’s not even counting his dealings with the media.
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There’s the infamous story about Kelly at Central Michigan. Central Michigan graduate assistants Robert Saleh and Matt LaFleur thought they were being invited to a party at Kelly’s house. Instead, they shoveled snow from his driveway and parked the guests’ cars. More recently, there’s also his bizarre behavior at LSU, where he faked a southern accent and danced in a strange video with a recruit.
Regardless of your opinion of Kelly, we can all agree he is not perceived as likable, which can be a problem on TV. Even worse, he’s not polarizing enough to get an audience to hate-watch his appearances.
Kelly will probably be just OK as a broadcaster. And maybe CBS is fine with that for Mountain West games. But the people who care most about that conference deserve better, someone who is passionate rather than simply treating this gig as a rest stop on the way to the next job.
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