8:37 PM
Sources told ESPN that LSU is going to hire Notre Dame's Brian Kelly as its next head football coach.
The agreement is likely to be finalized in the next 24 hours.
LSU announced on October 17 that Ed Orgeron would not return as coach in 2022, less than two years after the team won a national championship.
Kelly is the winningest coach in Notre Dame history with 92 victories. He was the coach of Notre Dame when they won the national championship in 2012 and College Football Playoff appearances in the last two years.
Notre Dame is ranked 6th in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. The Fighting Irish lost to Cincinnati in October.
Kelly's departure comes as a big surprise to prominent Notre Dame sources who spoke to ESPN earlier Monday. Sources said LSU had approached Kelly earlier this fall, but he declined the job. LSU made another attempt to get Kelly.
Kelly told reporters last week that he wouldn't be leaving Notre Dame for another job. I mean, what about Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin? My wife would want to look at it first if that $250 million check came by. I would have to run it by her.
Kelly has a 263-96-2 record as a college coach, with two Division II national titles at Grand Valley State and 10 AP top 10 finishes. He went 34-6 with two New Year's Six bowl appearances while he was at Notre Dame.
In the two seasons since he led LSU to a national title, Orgeron went 11-11 and was accused of improperly handling allegations of sexual misconduct by a player twice in the past year.
LSU defeated Texas A&M 27-24 on Saturday for its sixth win of the season. Brad Davis will act as the interim coach for the bowl game after Ed Orgeron announced that he won't coach in the game.
"I wish the new coach all the best in the world," said Orgeron. I'll always be a fan of LSU.
LSU had been connected to various coaches, including Jimbo Fisher, who has denied that he is leaving Texas A&M for any job this summer. Lincoln Riley, who accepted the USC job a day ago, was rumored to be up for the LSU job over the weekend.
Yahoo reported that LSU was expected to hire Kelly.
