LSU Tigers fans, let’s be real—things ain’t looking too pretty down in Baton Rouge. Another offseason, another round of sky-high expectations, but this time, the pressure cooker might just explode. Brian Kelly and the Tigers wrapped up 2024 with a 9-4 record—solid, but nowhere near the promised land of the College Football Playoff. And now? Two gut punches in rapid succession as national analyst confirms Brian Kelly’s 61 million dollar hot-seat.

Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman didn’t hold back on the Andy and Ari podcast when discussing LSU’s schedule. “It doesn’t really help all the SEC schedules,” Staples noted. “And I think part of this, Andy—you—you know, for me, when looking through the schedule, is the emergence of South Carolina as a very good team.” Wasserman agreed, emphasizing how South Carolina ain’t just a filler game anymore—it’s a legitimate bully.

South Carolina wasn’t supposed to be a problem—at least not for LSU. But under Shane Beamer, the Gamecocks flipped the script. They came into 2024, projected to be a bottom-feeder, maybe winning five games if they got lucky. Instead, they went full beast mode, ripping off a 9-4 record, winning five SEC road games for the first time since 2011, and capping it off with a six-game heater to end the season.

Ain’t gonna lie, LSU barely survived their September 14, 2024, matchup in Columbia, scraping by with a 36-33 win against a freshman QB. Now, with another showdown set for October 11, 2025, nobody’s looking at South Carolina as a gimme win anymore. That’s bad news for Brian Kelly, whose leash ain’t getting any longer.

And then there’s LSU’s another big issue: the opening game curse. Ari Wasserman laid it out straight: “It’s five, Andy. They’ve lost five openers in a row.” Five. That’s not bad luck—that’s a full-blown LSU tradition at this point. And what’s waiting for them this year? A road trip to Clemson, a team that Andy Staples said has “the highest expectations I’ve had for Clemson in maybe four years.” Ouch.

Then there’s the irony in the room—the stinker trend in season openers. LSU’s got some real bad juju when it comes to kicking off a season, and Kelly has only made it worse. The receipts don’t lie: since Brian Kelly arrived in Baton Rouge, the Tigers are 0-3 in season openers. Hell, stretch it back further, and LSU’s lost five of their last six. It started in 2020 with that embarrassing loss to Mississippi State at home. 2021? A trip to UCLA that ended in a 38-27 beatdown.

Kelly’s era kicked off with a special kind of heartbreak in 2022 when a last-second blocked PAT handed Florida State a 24-23 win. The pain doubled in 2023 when LSU—preseason No. 5, mind you—got absolutely cooked by Florida State again, 45-24. And in 2024, another top-15 ranking meant nothing as they got clipped by USC, 27-20. Now, Clemson is up next, and guess what? The Tigers (the orange ones) are looking the best they have in years.

Brian Kelly’s opener stinker and potential $61M hot seat?

So, how much heat is Brian Kelly really feeling? LSU’s brutal opening-game history is just the tip of the iceberg. “LSU losing its opener again is a really tough way for Brian Kelly to open up that season,” Staples pointed out. “Like, even if Clemson turns out to be the best team in the country next year, it’s just a brutal way to start.” Ari Wasserman dropped the hard truth: “They’ve lost five openers in a row. Five. That’s gonna be a big one.”

Look, Kelly ain’t on the hot seat yet according to Andy and Ari. His contract is massive, and the $61 million buyout is the type of cash that would make even LSU boosters sweat. But let’s be honest—another mid-tier season, another Playoff whiff, another opening-game flop? That leash gets a whole lot shorter. It’s one thing to take a few L’s while rebuilding, but this is LSU. National titles aren’t just a goal—they’re the standard.

With Clemson lurking in Week 1, followed by a stretch that includes Florida, Ole Miss, and South Carolina, the 2025 schedule ain’t doing Kelly any favors. “You have four games on that schedule that you could conceivably lose if you’re not about your—about your stuff,” Staples said. That’s not the kinda energy LSU fans wanna hear heading into a season that’s already carrying the weight of past disappointments.

Bottom line? Brian Kelly has gotta get LSU out of this opening-game funk. And prove that this program isn’t just spinning its wheels. Another 9-4 season, another CFP miss, and another brutal opener? The pressure won’t just mount—it’ll erupt. And if things go sideways, that $61 million price tag might start low-key looking like a necessary evil.