A former Notre Dame coach, Clark Lea, has been named as a potential replacement for former Irish coach Brian Kelly at LSU.

Before he arrived at LSU, Kelly, 64, had restored the shine to Notre Dame football after years of decline. He was a driving force behind modernizing the program and making it a consistent national contender for the first time since Lou Holtz in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“Coach Kelly gave me an opportunity to come here,” Freeman said, via Mike Beradino of the South Bend Tribune. “I’m always rooting for him. But it’s also the profession we’ve chosen. We know that can be a result of choosing this profession.” Freeman said he hated to see Kelly lose his job, knowing that it would affect families and players.

Brian Kelly was fired as LSU's coach Sunday, the same day three teams coached by his ex-defensive coordinators at Notre Dame were ranked in the top 12 of the AP poll.

Brian Kelly, dismissed Sunday after losing 3 of his last 4, leaves the LSU Tigers with a hefty buyout and a 34-14 combined record in 3-plus seasons.

While Kelly made history at Notre Dame as the “winningest coach of all time“ with 113 wins over his 12 seasons, Freeman has shown the same talent in his more limited time. He has kept the floor high and shows the team’s growth every season.

What has already been a flat-out insane coaching cycle in college football this season hit a new level Sunday night when LSU fired head coach Brian Kelly. The Tigers had preseason expectations to compete for a national championship according to Kelly, but were routed at home Saturday by Texas A&M, and suffered it's third loss of the year already.

The Fighting Irish Wire staff picks Notre Dame at Boston College along with the top games in college football during Week 10.

The 2025 college football season has been an absolute disaster for the LSU Tigers program. However, that doesn't mean that LSU fans need to tune out and move on entirely. No, Tigers games might not matter too much for the rest of this season,