LSU football head coach Brian Kelly has never shied away from the spotlight throughout his coaching career. Recently, that spotlight has been positive after Kelly's Tigers shockingly upset Nick Saban and Alabama in Baton Rouge on Saturday night. With the recent praise, it's easy to forget that Kelly was in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons not too long ago.

Notre Dame departure

For starters, let's travel back to November 2021, when Brian Kelly made the shocking decision to leave Notre Dame for LSU. The decision itself made sense, as LSU offered a massive raise over his salary at Notre Dame. However, the way Kelly handled the whole process left many with a bad taste in their mouths.

Soon after news of the hiring broke, several reports that Kelly “ghosted” nearly everyone at Notre Dame surfaced. Soon after that, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick confirmed that he had not heard from Kelly until after the LSU news broke.

Additionally, not even Kelly's own players knew about the news beforehand. He reportedly sent a text message to the team expressing his sorrow for not being able to tell the players himself. However, when he did meet with the team the following morning, it was short and not so sweet.

Even months later, Kelly still could not escape the shadow of his Notre Dame departure. Legendary Fighting Irish coach Lou Holtz revealed that even he was not immune to Kelly's cold shoulder. Holtz revealed that he sent many positive letters to Kelly throughout his Notre Dame tenure, but never received even one response.

Rough beginnings at LSU

Once Brian Kelly made it to Baton Rouge, it didn't get much better for him. The first controversy came when LSU introduced him at a men's basketball game, but something was off. Many noticed that Kelly was faking a Southern accent while speaking to the crowd, which drew heavy criticism across the college football world, including Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.

Then, a “cringey” video surfaced of Kelly dancing with LSU recruits in a room full of flashing lights. This video also drew widespread criticism from across college football, and it even bit Kelly and the Tigers. Danny Lewis, the recruit in the video, wound up committing to Alabama over LSU after the video went viral.

Despite all the controversy, Kelly had the chance to put that all behind him. The Tigers opened the regular season with a big “neutral-site” game against Florida State in New Orleans. If he could start his career with a big win, all the offseason controversy would be a memory, but that didn't happen.

Early-season struggles

To call Brian Kelly's LSU debut disappointing would be a big understatement. The Tigers looked lifeless for most of the game, and the Seminoles looked like the much better team through three and a half quarters. The game appeared to be over with Florida State holding a 14-point lead with less than five minutes to go, but then, chaos broke loose.

LSU scored a touchdown to make it a one-score game, but a muffed punt appeared to spell disaster. The Tigers then recovered a Seminoles fumble, but had the daunting task of driving 99 yards to tie the game. Somehow, they scored as time expired, but the Seminoles blocked the extra point to hold on for a 24-23 win.

The fallout from this game proved to be much larger than anticipated. College football fans reveled in Kelly's failure, and the following days only drew more criticism. Most notably, Kelly called out a reporter late to a press conference, only for the reporter to fire back by saying, “Maybe if you'd win I'd be on time.”

The Tigers then won their next four games, including SEC wins over Mississippi State and Auburn. However, the heat instantly came back after LSU suffered a 40-13 blowout against Tennessee at home. This marked Kelly's worst home loss at the FBS level,  and he made some questionable coaching decisions throughout the game.

LSU's season appeared to be over after the Tennessee beatdown, and Kelly's first season looked like a massive disappointment. Instead, the Tigers responded to the adversity, and they now have big aspirations in the home stretch of the season.

The turnaround

In the next two weeks, LSU earned convincing wins at Florida and against No. 7 Ole Miss at home. The Tigers' 45-20 victory over the Rebels marked their first ranked win under Kelly, a huge sign of progress since the disappointing start. LSU players, especially quarterback Jayden Daniels, seemed to have fully bought in to Kelly's message.

The back-to-back huge wins propelled LSU all the way up to No. 10 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings. This made the Tigers' Nov. 5 game with Alabama a top-10 matchup, although the Crimson Tide entered as a heavy favorite. Once the game rolled around, the Tigers proved they are legit.

LSU stunned Alabama 32-31 in overtime in possibly the biggest win of Kelly's career. The Tigers are now in control in the SEC West, and they could become the first two-loss team to make the CFP if they can run the table. All of this is possible thanks to Kelly's gutsy call to go for two and the win in overtime.

The controversy surrounding Brian Kelly and his departure from Notre Dame may never truly leave him. However, the man has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he can coach. The goal at LSU is a national championship, and Kelly has a great chance to lead the Tigers there.