$168M owed to fired FBS head football coaches

Former LSU coach Brian Kelly's $54 million buyout would bring the amount of money owed to FBS head football coaches fired this season to $167.7 million, according to publicly available data and reports.

Kelly's buyout, which is still being negotiated with LSU, is the highest of the 2025 season so far, topping the $49 million owed to Penn State's ex-coach James Franklin, who was fired on Oct. 12.

Also included in the $167.7 million:

Buyout totals are subject to change in certain circumstances; for example, if Kelly or Franklin land new jobs, the schools that fired them owe them less money. Napier's contract with Florida, on the other hand, did not include offset language, and half of his buyout is owed to him within 30 days of his firing.

Kelly's buyout is the second largest in college football history, behind Texas A&M's record $76 million buyout of Jimbo Fisher in 2023. Both coaches were hired by current LSU athletic director Scott Woodward, who ran the Texas A&M athletic department from 2016 to 2019.

"We had high hopes that [Kelly] would lead us to multiple SEC and national championships during his time in Baton Rouge," Woodward said when he announced the firing, which came a day after the Tigers' 49-25 loss to Texas A&M. "Ultimately, the success at the level that LSU demands simply did not materialize, and I made the decision to make a change after last night's game.

The $168.1 million applies to coaches who have been fired since the start of the 2025 season and does not include coaches who were fired over the offseason.