Brian Kelly's salary, bonuses in 10-year LSU contract revealed

Brian Kelly, one week after indicating that he wasn’t planning on leaving Notre Dame for any reason other than retirement, left the Fighting Irish stranded, despite hopes of making the College Football Playoff, and accepted the head coaching gig at LSU.

When Kelly made that promise, he said that he wouldn’t consider leaving Notre Dame unless a “fairy godmother comes by with that $250M check. All along, his real asking price was in the $100 million range; at least, that’s the figure he agreed upon with LSU.

The details of Kelly’s contract were made public on Tuesday, and he’ll be making roughly $10 million per year over the ten-year agreement. The deal starts at $9.5 million for the 2022 season, increases to $9.7 million starting in 2023, then $9.9 million in 2025, $10.1 million in 2027, $10.3 million in 2029 and $10.5 million in 2031.

Kelly’s term sheet at LSU also includes a $500,000 longevity payment, an annual bonus that will be paid out every July on the job.

Should he choose to leave, though, Kelly will have to pay out LSU quite a bit. The contract, if terminated by Kelly before Dec. 31, 2022, would yield a $4 million payment from Kelly to LSU. That figure drops to $3 million in 2023, then $2 million in 2024, after which it remains at $2 million until its expiration in 2031.

Kelly to be introduced Wednesday

Kelly was introduced as LSU’s official coach on Twitter Tuesday, and he’ll have an official press conference introducing him as LSU’s next head coach on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. ET.

“I could not be more excited to join a program with the commitment to excellence, rich traditions, and unrivaled pride and passion of LSU Football,” Kelly said. “I am fully committed to recruiting, developing, and graduating elite student-athletes, winning championships, and working together with our administration to make Louisiana proud. Our potential is unlimited, and I cannot wait to call Baton Rouge home.”

Kelly leaves Notre Dame as the team’s all-time winningest coach. He had a career 113-40 record with the Fighting Irish, including an 11-1 year this season and a 54-9 record over the last five years. Kelly led Notre Dame to a strong season this year, and the Irish are seemingly in the thick of the race for the College Football Playoff. Notre Dame needs some help for that to become a reality, but it’s not out of the question. If that was to happen, the Irish will be without the head coach that led them to that point.