Brian Kelly confirms departure from Notre Dame in letter to players

Hours after reports surfaced that Brian Kelly would leave Notre Dame after 12 seasons to become the head coach of the LSU Tigers, he seemingly confirmed the report in a late night message sent to his players.

"Men...Let me first apologize for the late night text and, more importantly, for not being able to share the news with you in person that I will be leaving Notre Dame," Kelly's message reads, via Matt Fortuna of The Athletic. "I am flying back to South Bend tonight to be able to meet with you in the morning but the news broke late today and I am sorry you found out through social media or news reports."

Kelly, 60, led Notre Dame to the 2013 BCS National Championship Game as well as two appearances in the College Football Playoff. The Fighting Irish finished the 2021 regular season with a 45-14 win over Stanford to improve to 11-1 and currently sit No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings.

In the message to his players, Kelly said that he'd speak to them at a 7 a.m. meeting.

Kelly will be filling the void left by the departure of Ed Orgeron at LSU. While the Tigers won the national championship less than two years ago with a 15-0 season, LSU had a 5-5 record in 2020 and are 6-6 in 2021.