Brian Kelly was fired by LSU just a few weeks before his son, Kenzel Kelly, walked the field at Tiger Stadium for Senior Night. The currently unemployed coach did not attend the ceremony on Saturday.
It was an unfortunate situation for the family.
However, the fifth-year college football player still decided to cause a scene in the absence of his father. His bizarre behavior immediately cancels out any sympathy for the awkward position he was in.
Brian Kelly did not attend his son’s Senior Night.
Kelly, 64, was fired on the day after LSU lost a home game to Texas A&M at the end of October. There are not ifs, ands, or buts about it. The school will owe him nearly $54 million not to coach the Tigers if he was let go with out cause, per his buyout agreement.
This is where things get contentious.
Kelly filed a lawsuit against the university in the 19th Judicial District for East Baton Rouge Paris on Nov. 10. His attorneys alleged LSU took the position that he had not been “formally terminated” and that the school sought to fire him for cause to avoid paying him the full amount he is owed. The lawsuit asks for a declamatory judgement that Brian Kelly has already been fired without cause and is owed the full buyout.
LSU also claims that then-athletic director Scott Woodward did not have the authority to fire Kelly at the time. Woodward was fired four days after he fired Kelly.
In response to the lawsuit, the Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors officially authorized new university president Wade Rousse to send Brian Kelly a formal notice of termination during a closed-door executive meeting on Friday. They basically fired him more than three weeks after he was fired. It’s weird.
To make it even more bizarre, Kenzel Kelly is still on the team! He walked by himself on Senior Night.
Brian Kelly’s son Kenzel taking part in #LSU Senior Day.
— 104.5 ESPN (@1045espn) November 23, 2025
Brian Kelly was not in attendance. pic.twitter.com/o1nqYjwVT4
Brian Kelly was going to attend the Senior Night festivities. LSU did not let him.
“BK wanted to be there for me…Unfortunately the new leadership at LSU did not see it the same way… 🙏🏽#freeBK”
— Kenzel Kelly.
He likely would’ve been booed if he was on the field. His wife, Paqui, and daughter, Grace, were there.
Kenzel Kelly wants to free “his boy” BK.
I am not going to pretend to know the relationship between Kenzel and Brian Kelly. Nor will I ever criticize a son for standing up for his father.
With that being said, the way Brian Kelly’s son handled Senior Night was truly unusual.
As soon as Kenzel Kelly completed his run out onto the field for the last time, he looked directly at the camera to deliver a message. The former Grand Valley State University transfer proclaimed, “Long Live BK!” BK, of course, refers to his father.
Sure. Whatever. Weird. But whatever.
Kenzel then revealed his white undershirt, which featured the letters BK in sharpie. He shouted, “free my boy! Free my boy BK! You know who!”
2025 LSU Football in a nutshell pic.twitter.com/WaPptp3J6N
— tik (@twosuh) November 23, 2025
Again, I am not here to judge their relationship, but I have never once referred to my father as “my boy.” That’s just me. We’re different, I guess.
Regardless of how Kenzel Kelly and Brian Kelly act with/toward each other as dad and son, the antics on Senior Night immediately eliminates any sympathy toward the awkward situation. This is the current state of the LSU football program. A player, whose father is actively suing the university for more than $50 million, called for his “boy” to be freed on the SEC Network broadcast. That’s a new one.