Brian Kelly Confesses to Losing Head Coaching Job to Lane Kiffin at SEC College, That Backfired for Program

Brian Kelly has spent plenty of time around big college football jobs. One of the ones that got away still stands out. Back in 2008, Tennessee considered him for its head coaching vacancy before choosing Lane Kiffin. The decision looked ambitious at the time. But what followed in Knoxville made it a much harder sell.

Brian Kelly revisited that near miss while in town to receive the Neyland Award and speak at a weekly QB Club gathering. Speaking with Jimmy Hyams, he reflected on the interview process and the coaching competition that ended with Tennessee choosing somebody else.

“Those are the days where you watch Tennessee football, and they’re obviously iconic brands in this business,” he said. “Tennessee being one of them, there were great candidates for that job, and so you just try during those interview processes to say, this is how I do things, this is my process, and we felt comfortable on both ends of it, but it ended up going to somebody else that’s beat me out again.”

Brian Kelly did not launch into a rant about Tennessee or suggest the Vols made the wrong call. But the history behind his comments does plenty of talking on its own.

Brian Kelly's candid admission reveals how one coaching decision spiraled into unexpected consequences. Stay subscribed for the behind-the-scenes power plays reshaping college football's elite programs.

Tennessee needed a replacement after firing Phillip Fulmer, the coach who had delivered a national championship in 1998. The Vols wanted a name capable of restoring their place among the SEC’s heavyweights. Lane Kiffin fit the pitch. He was young, outspoken, and carried the kind of reputation that could energize a fan base. His staff included his father, Monte Kiffin, the respected defensive mastermind.

Tennessee hired him in December 2008, betting that the new regime could bring the program roaring back. There was one problem. Lane Kiffin’s commitment to Knoxville did not last long enough for the rebuild to get properly started.

After going 7-6 in his lone season, Lane Kiffin left Tennessee in January 2010 to take the USC job following Pete Carroll’s departure for the NFL. The announcement landed like a brick. Angry Tennessee fans gathered on campus, students burned mattresses, and the episode became one big chaotic coaching exit college football had ever seen.

By then, the candidate they had passed over was gone, too. Brian Kelly had been building something substantial at Cincinnati. The Bearcats finished the 2009 regular season 12-0, putting themselves among the country’s elite and turning their head coach into one of the most attractive coaching candidates in the sport.

Notre Dame had already locked up Brian Kelly by December 2009. When Lane Kiffin bolted, Tennessee had nowhere to turn but back to the market. Derek Dooley got the job, and the years that followed were rough. It took until Josh Heupel arrived in 2021 for the Vols to find steadier ground.

Could Brian Kelly have changed that? Maybe. Nobody knows how he would have handled Tennessee, the SEC grind, or the recruiting battles. But it was a lesson for the Vols. They lost Lane Kiffin and watched their other option disappear before they could make another call.

Brian Kelly left Notre Dame after two CFP trips and took over LSU in 2022. He never delivered the championship run Baton Rouge wanted. Now LSU belongs to Lane Kiffin, the same coach Tennessee picked over him years ago. His first season hasn’t gone to plan. The Tigers are 5-2, including a loss to Ole Miss, the very program Kiffin walked away from to take the LSU job.

As for Brian Kelly, he’s with CBS Sports now as an analyst after his LSU stint. But there’s a chance he could be pacing the sidelines once more. Maryland, which dismissed Mike Locksley after a difficult start to the 2026 season, is eyeing him as one of the potential candidates for the head coaching job.

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