Oh Brian Kelly, you never fail to bring the Fighting Irish at least a little entertainment.
Recently, the former Notre Dame turned LSU Tigers head coach shared that his current program was ready to shell out a lot more money than it had in the past, in hopes that the team could at least make an appearance in the College Football Playoffs.
"We’re going to be just about $18 million,” Kelly said.
That's far from pocket change, but it still doesn't compare to some of the top programs in the country, like the Texas Longhorns, who are expected to spend about $22.2 million.
Why is this so funny for the Irish? Well, Kelly supposedly left South Bend for Death Valley because he didn't think the University believed in its athletics enough. In other words, Notre Dame wasn't giving the football program enough money to ever win a National Championship.
On LSU’s roster spending, Brian Kelly says on @LSUradio: “We’re going to be just about $18 million.”
— Wilson Alexander (@whalexander_) August 22, 2025
Yet, just last year, the Fighting Irish were playing in the National Championship game, and the Tigers were already in the offseason after eking out a win over the Baylor Bears in the Kinder's Texas Bowl.
The best part? Notre Dame has been spending this kind of money for years. Since the evolution of NIL funds and collectives, the Irish have spent a projected $20 million per year on their football program.
Notre Dame, as a private university, isn't held to the same standards in regards to reporting their spending to the public. However, in 2023, it was projected that the Fighting Irish spent $20.5 million on football alone.
That kind of number is all Kelly was asking for when he was coaching the Irish, but Notre Dame didn't want to give it to him. For Marcus Freeman, however, the athletic department will gladly hand over the cash.
Even better, Kelly pledged up to $1 million of his own money to help boost the Tigers' NIL collective, matching any other donations made to the fund.
Now, only time will tell if Kelly can actually do anything with the $20-million roster, or if he simply doesn't have what it takes to make it to the National Championship game, money in his hands or not. The Irish can rest assured that their leading man, Freeman, can get their team where it needs to be.