What was Brian Kelly's salary at Notre Dame? 

Brian Kelly's tenure at Notre Dame, spanning from 2010 to 2021, was marked by significant accomplishments and transformation for the Fighting Irish football program. He was successful, recording winning seasons in all but one of his years.

What came as a surprise to college football enthusiasts however was Kelly's decision to leave Notre Dame in 2021 after having given 12 years to the program. He left South Bend as the Fighting Irish's all-time winningest coach and teamed up with Southeastern Conference’s LSU.

What was Brian Kelly's salary at Notre Dame?

Brian Kelly earned around $3,317,436, for the 2020 season, according to reports. However, the total sum of his earnings is expected to be much higher than that. He was the university's highest-paid athletic employee ahead of Mike Brey and Jack Swarbrick.

In Notre Dame, Brian was paid in the range of $7 to 8 million as the head coach of the Fighting Irish. The precise figures of his compensation are not publicly available as Notre Dame is a private institution that chooses not to disclose its compensation publicly.

According to the public tax document, Kelly's compensation included $1,366,793 in base pay, $608,500 in bonus and incentives, $227,173 in other disclosed compensation, $1,028,500 in deferred retirement benefits, and $86,740 in benefits not subject to taxation.

How much did LSU offer Brian Kelly to leave Notre Dame?

Brian was offered a 10-year, $95 million contract by LSU, earning him a place amongst the highest-paid coaches in the college football landscape. However, the agreement does include various incentives and significant performance-related evaluations.

His base salary started at $9 million and was to increase annually until the end of the contract in 2021, by the time it had reached $10 million. Notably, Kelly is also granted $500,000 as a bonus for every season that he completes with LSU, and an additional $500,000 if the Tigers qualify for a bowl game.

Why did Brian Kelly leave Notre Dame?

Brian's decision to leave Notre Dame caught many by surprise in the college football world. In a conversation with the Associated Press, Kelly expressed his dissatisfaction with Notre Dame's management of its football program across several crucial aspects,

"I felt like I did everything that I could at Notre Dame and they felt like they did everything they could for me," Kelly said. "I felt like we had both got to a point where this is what they could do, right? This is what I did. And we couldn't get past that. Okay? And so here we are."

Kelly made it known that he had consistently requested Notre Dame to enhance their financial commitment to the football team and make upgrades around the athletic center. However, the school had paid no heed to these requests.