Brian Kelly Says He Will Not Close the Door on Coaching Again: What Is Actually Confirmed About Maryland
Brian Kelly sat down with Front Office Sports this week and said the thing every out-of-work coach eventually says.
“If something, you know, opens up that looks like a good fit for both sides, I won’t close the door on it.”
That sentence launched a week of Maryland speculation. Before anybody gets carried away, here is what is actually on the record and what is not.
What Kelly Said
The Front Office Sports interview, published Thursday, was mostly Kelly taking responsibility for how LSU ended.
“I didn’t live up to the standards that are set there at LSU,” he said. “They brought me in to win a national championship.” He added: “At the end of the day, that’s why I was let go.” On his successor in Baton Rouge: “Lane will have the same expectations.”
He also defended his current job as a CBS analyst. “Certainly, this is not a stopover for me,” Kelly said, while acknowledging the obvious: “I still have a passion for the game. So I miss that.”
Two days earlier, on his weekly SiriusXM show, Kelly was asked to assess the three Power Four openings at the time. He praised all of them. On Maryland: “There’s no doubt that that DMV area is a really good recruiting area,” and “I think they’ve done great things in terms of upgrading facilities.” On NC State: “I could win this thing at the ACC level.” On Baylor: “They have the ability to be a part of the Playoff.”
He was asked about three jobs and said nice things about three jobs. He did not rank them, and he did not say he wanted any of them.
What Nobody Has Reported
This is where the story thins out fast.
No outlet has reported that Maryland has contacted Brian Kelly. There is no reported interview, no offer, and no comment from the school about him. Athletic director Jim Smith has not discussed a candidate list publicly.
The Maryland link traces back to Pete Nakos of On3, who put Kelly on a hot board of candidates on October 21, the day Mike Locksley’s exit was announced, and reported that sources say Kelly wants to coach again. A hot board is a writer’s list of names, not a list of coaches a school has called. USA TODAY’s John Brice later quoted an unnamed agent rattling off fallback options: “we get into Lance Taylor, Dan Mullen, Brian Kelly.”
Asked directly about Rutgers, Kelly’s answer was a shrug: “It’s way too early for me to entertain any of those thoughts.” He added that Greg Schiano is a friend and that he is pulling for him. Rutgers does not have an opening.
The Part People Keep Getting Wrong
LSU fired Kelly on October 26, 2025. Not this month. A year ago.
He went 34-14 in roughly four seasons and was let go at 5-3 the day after a 49-25 home loss to Texas A&M. LSU then tried to terminate him for cause to avoid the buyout, Kelly sued, and on November 26, 2025, the school formally terminated him without cause and agreed to pay the full $54 million over six years. That settlement carries a mitigation clause: if Kelly takes another job, LSU owes only the difference.
That clause is the quiet financial logic underneath “I won’t close the door on it.” LSU has a direct interest in Brian Kelly coaching again.
Where Maryland Actually Stands
Maryland and Locksley parted ways October 21 at 2-5, on a five-game losing streak. Locksley finished 38-49 over eight seasons. Aazaar Abdul-Rahim is the interim coach, and Maryland is 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten with Illinois visiting Saturday.
The names drawing the most reported momentum are Wake Forest’s Jake Dickert and Memphis’ Charles Huff, with one agent telling USA TODAY the search “starts and ends with Huff, in my opinion.” The Baltimore Sun ran an eleven-name fit exercise this week. Kelly was not on it.
Kelly is 64, has roughly 297 career wins, and is under contract at CBS. Everything past that is people reading a radio appearance.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
