Brian Kelly Offering Up $1 Million in Bold New LSU NIL Plan
LSU head coach Brian Kelly just finished his third regular season in Baton Rouge, and now has sights set on 2025 and beyond with a focus on NIL and recruiting.
Kelly and his wife Paqui announced a new initiative surrounding the school's NIL push called the "Kelly Family Million Dollar Match Challenge." From Dec. 13, 2024 until Feb. 5, 2025, the Kelly Family is matching every dollar up to $1 million that is contributed by fans to the Tiger Athletic Foundation's AD's Excellence Fund.
As Yahoo's Ross Dellenger noted, this is expected to continue to become more common as schools try to navigate the new revenue sharing and NIL era of college athletics. He also noted that some coaches have contributed a portion of their salary privately over the last couple years to prepare and adapt to this new era.
Kelly has gone 28–11 across three seasons at LSU, including an 8–4 mark this year. The Tigers will play the Baylor Bears in the Texas Bowl on New Year's Eve.