Brian Kelly traveled to college football’s other Death Valley Saturday night, aiming to secure his first win in a season opener as LSU’s head coach and, more importantly, to try to keep his job.
He succeeded on that first goal, and likely the second as well, beating the Clemson Tigers 17-10 in an era-defining victory over a Clemson team that entered Week One as the fourth-ranked team in the nation.
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This game was expected to result in fireworks either way, with two of the top teams in the country facing off in what was one of the most highly anticipated games of the week, if not the season.
Where many didn’t expect those fireworks to come from, however, was from the coaches. Brian Kelly fired back at Dabo Swinney during Tuesday morning’s press conference regarding Swinney’s comments on Saturday’s contest. Swinney’s initial remarks, linked here, praised LSU and their efforts, but his closing comment drew Kelly’s ire:
“It’s like getting a final exam on day one of class. They made a 65, we made a 58. Neither one of us were great,” Swinney said.
Kelly fired back at the two-time national championship-winning coach, saying,
“We dominated them in the second half. He’s either a really good (considering replacing with [generous] because that’s what he meant, just didn’t say it.) grader for giving himself a 58, or he’s a really hard grader on us. Or he didn’t see the second half, which might be the case; he might not have wanted to see the second half,” Kelly responded.
While Swinney obviously did in fact see the second half, Kelly’s comments still likely sting for Clemson fans. Clemson led 10-3 at halftime, but LSU seemed to flip a switch during the break and didn’t look back.
LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly takes to the field Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025 during the NCAA football game against the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.
The LSU offense quickly found its groove in the second half, marching down the field and punching in a touchdown to tie the game at 10 apiece on its first possession of the third quarter.
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It was all up from there for LSU, with Virginia Tech transfer Mansoor Delane picking off Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik on the next drive. This set up a near-touchdown on the subsequent drive from LSU, but a questionable referee decision kept them off the board.
Either way, the offense was clearly firing, looking like a completely different unit from the one in the first two quarters. LSU added a second touchdown on a fade to tight end Trey’Dez Green to start the fourth quarter, and a series of impressive plays by Patrick Payton, Harold Perkins, and Delane helped close the door on Clemson, holding them scoreless in the second half.
Kelly’s comments on Swinney’s grading abilities aside, his team dominated Clemson in the third and fourth quarters. They scored 14 points on a defense many hailed as the best unit in the nation and shut down a Clemson offense that also entered the season with high expectations. After silencing many doubters with this performance, Kelly earned the right to drop a professional demeanor for a moment and fire back at Swinney.
This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: LSU football coach fires back after Dabo Swinney insults Tigers