The program he left, Notre Dame, is preparing for the College Football Playoff national championship against Ohio State on Jan. 20 in Atlanta, under the guidance of Marcus Freeman. The program Kelly joined after leaving Notre Dame in November 2021, LSU, missed this year's College Football Playoff for the third consecutive season under his watch.

When Brian Kelly decided to leave Notre Dame and take the job at LSU, it was a surprise to many. Kelly has now completed three seasons at LSU and he won 10 games in the first two before winning nine games in 2024.

Former Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly left the program on bad terms in 2021 when he went to LSU, but he doesn't seem to hold ill feelings towards the team where he coached for 12 years. In fact, Kelly is publicly rooting for the Fighting Irish in the National Championship game vs.

The Orange Bowl was a huge win for that program. The fact that they made it all this way — against Penn State, no less — speaks to the job Freeman has done. To go from losing to Northern Illinois at the beginning of the season to playing for a national championship is unheard of.

Monday night's national championship game will be an interesting watch for LSU head coach Brian Kelly. Kelly was the head coach at Notre Dame for 12 seasons from 2010-21 before leaving the program for LSU in November 2021,

LSU head coach Brian Kelly was the head coach of the Notre Dame football team before joining the Tigers, and he will now watch the Fighting Irish play in the national title game f

The Fighting Irish’s 27-24 Orange Bowl win over Penn State at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida proved former Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly very wrong about why he left the program.