Former LSU football coach Brian Kelly has requested that the school pay his full buyout of nearly $54 million, according to documents obtained by The Advocate, as negotiations continue two weeks after he was fired during his fourth season.
In a Nov. 5 letter sent to LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry and LSU Board of Supervisors member John Carmouche, Kelly’s attorneys asked for written confirmation by 5 p.m. on Monday that LSU will "fulfill its contractual obligation" to pay the full sum.
“Absent this written confirmation by that date, Coach Kelly will pursue all available legal remedies,” the letter states.
Kelly is owed nearly $54 million if fired without cause, a sum that would be paid in equal monthly installments through the end of his contract in 2031. Kelly's attorneys claimed in documents that LSU fired him without cause, in which case Kelly is owed 90% of his remaining annual compensation under the terms of the deal.
The letter states Kelly would still be "open to any additional offers" to settle if he receives the written confirmation that LSU will abide by the contract for a firing without cause.
LSU offered lump-sum payments of $25 million and $30 million the day Kelly was fired, documents said, but Kelly rejected them. They were made when Scott Woodward was still LSU’s athletic director. He and the school parted four days later.