Mike Florio ,
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LSU has blinked.
After a month of foot-dragging aimed at getting former head coach Brian Kelly to accept a reduced buyout, LSU has finally fired Kelly without cause , according to Pete Thamel of ESPN.com.
The move means that LSU owes Kelly every penny of his $54 million buyout.
LSU had delayed firing Kelly. Along the way, it had reportedly offered him a buyout lower than the amount owed. At one point, LSU allegedly suggested that Kelly could be fired with cause.
Kelly eventually forced the issue, filing a lawsuit seeking a judicial declaration that no cause existed for terminating him. More recently, Kelly’s lawyer’s reportedly accused LSU of keeping him from finding another job by not firing him, with or without cause.
Basically, LSU finally cried “uncle.” (Or perhaps the school whispered “ family ” in Kelly’s fake Louisiana accent.) It may have something to do with the recruitment of Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin. And it may have been aimed at persuading Kiffin that, if he takes the job and doesn’t win enough games for the school’s liking, he won’t get jerked around on the way out the door.
Or maybe Kiffin insisted that, before he makes a decision, LSU needs to do right by Kelly.
Whatever the reason, it’s a full and complete capitulation. It’s what the school should have done in the first place. It’s what all normally-functioning schools do when the time comes to move on from a head coach.
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