Insider serves a cold reality check to Brian Kelly, reminding him of wasted Jayden Daniels' year

LSU coach Brian Kelly has hit the transfer portal hard after an inconsistent season with the Tigers that yielded nine wins. According to 247Sports, the Tigers have recruited the No. 1 transfer portal class in the country, heightening expectations around the team ahead of the 2025 college football season.

During Tuesday's segment of "Pate State," CBS Sports analyst Josh Pate broke down the pressure Kelly will be under in the coming season even reminding him of what has come to be termed as 'the wasted Jayden Daniels' years when the former Tigers QB won the Heisman but LSU failed to reach the playoffs.

"Brian Kelly is in year four and if you look at the records, they have 10 wins, 10 wins and nine wins," Pate said. "But it still feels like a prove-it year for them. Because defensively, you were so bad, you kind of wasted away the Jayden Daniels year and now we get to this year where you're two years into a new defensive staff so you should see big improvement.

"And I expect it and you've got Garrett Nussmeier who is a proven returning quarterback in a conference full of question marks at quarterback. And you haven't made the playoff under Brian Kelly yet. They need to do that this year. So, I would say LSU has something to prove, they've got the fifth-best odds in the conference."

Brian Kelly under pressure from Bruce Feldman

Brian Kelly started last season with massive expectations but several mixed performances, especially the home blowout loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide, derailed a promising season.

During Monday's segment of "The Audible Podcast," The Athletic's Bruce Feldman revealed that the coming season is a crucial one for Kelly

"Kelly, to me, is the wild card in this for two reasons — one, he's at the one place more than any other where it's national championship or bust," Feldman said. “The three guys he followed all won national titles. And they all won them pretty fast. Les Miles won it in three years, Ed Orgeron in three years and (Nick) Saban in four.

"Then there's this other piece and I don't think it's insignificant. I think if things don't go very well, I would not be surprised if LSU looks at firing him for cause to get out from under the contract.”

Brian Kelly will be under pressure almost immediately next season as the LSU Tigers open the season with a blockbuster game against the Clemson Tigers, with the weight of history against them because they have never won a season opener in the coach's three years in Baton Rouge.