Brian Kelly coaching career: Top 5 past teams coached by the LSU head coach

Brian Kelly is one of the most experienced coaches in college football today. The LSU head coach has more than three decades of head coaching experience in college football, including 19 in the Division I FBS. He gathered valuable experience in assistant coaching roles for years before his first stint as head coach. Below, we look at the top five teams coached by Brian Kelly.

Grand Valley State

Kelly arrived at Grand Valley State Lakers football in 1987 as a graduate assistant and defensive backs coach. After two years, he became the defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator. He was promoted as the Lakers' head coach in 1991. He kickstarted a successful era in the history of the NCAA Division II team.

His achievements at Grand Valley State include a 32-game winning streak during his final three seasons. He also led the team to two consecutive Division II national titles in 2002 and 2003. His 13-year reign in the team ended with five conference titles and six Division II Playoff berths.

Central Michigan

Kelly joined Central Michigan at the end of the 2003 regular season to former head coach, Mike DeBord. Central Michigan was a struggling team at Kelly's arrival. And it was his first FBS job. However, he still managed to lead the Chippewas to a 4-7 season, the second time they'll be winning more than three games in five seasons.

In his second season, he led the team to a 6-5 record. It was the team's first winning season in seven years. He completed his turnaround mission at the school in his third season, leading the team to a 9-4 season and a conference title win. He left for Cincinnati after the season.

Cincinnati

Brian Kelly became head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats following the 2006 regular season. He led the Bearcats to victory in his first game in charge, the 2007 International Bowl. His team achieved a 9-3 record at the end of his first full season. In 2008, he won the Big East conference title with the Bearcats, the first outright Big East title win in the team's history.

The Bearcats went into Kelly's third and final season as Cincinnati football coach unranked in all polls. Against all expectations, he led the team to an undefeated season, winning 12 consecutive games. However, Brian did not coach the Bearcats for the post-season as he'd moved on to Notre Dame.

Notre Dame

Kelly was the head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 2010 to 2021, leading the team for 12 seasons. He compiled a 92-40 record at this job. The Irish had 10 or more wins in seven seasons during his tenure. However, a 2016 ruling forced them to vacate all their wins in the 2012 and 2013 seasons. These include their berth in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game.

He led the team to two more national championship appearances in 2018 and 2020. During the 2020 college football season affected by COVID-19, he led Notre Dame to participate in the ACC regular season schedule. The Irish won their 10 conference matchups but lost to Clemson in the conference title game. Kelly resigned from Notre Dame at the end of the 2021 season.

LSU

Brian replaced Ed Orgeron as the head coach of the LSU Tigers in November 2021. The move came with a drastic increase in his annual earnings, going from earning $2.67 million in 2021 to $9 million in 2022. He started his LSU journey with a narrow 24-23 loss to the Florida State Seminoles. However, he followed this with a four-game winning streak. He ended the regular season winning the SEC West Division but lost to Georgia in the conference championship game.

He opened his account again this season with another loss to the Florida State Seminoles. As the season continues, Kelly will be seeking to better his debut season record of 10-4.