Brian Kelly reportedly expected to join CBS broadcast booth for Mountain West football

Brian Kelly, the veteran college football head coach whose most recent Division I stop was LSU, is reportedly expected to move into the broadcast booth for CBS and work Mountain West games. The development comes after LSU fired Kelly eight games into its 2025 season, ending a tenure that began with high expectations for a program seeking stability and a return to national relevance.

According to Yahoo Sports, Kelly’s coaching history spans multiple programs and levels, including head coaching roles at Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, and LSU. That path matters because it reflects a coach who has navigated different kinds of football ecosystems, from FCS-style program building to elite recruiting pipelines and now a higher-visibility game-management role in a major television partner’s studio-to-game workflow.

The Mountain West context is also notable. The league has continued to grow its national footprint through media partnerships, and adding a coach with Kelly’s resume suggests CBS is seeking recognizable authority in the booth, particularly for audiences that want tactical clarity rather than generic commentary. A former head coach can translate play design and in-game adjustments in a way that viewers often associate with top-tier sideline analysis, especially in conferences where styles can be distinct from the Power Four baseline.

Still, the report is best treated as a plan rather than confirmed scheduling. The available information does not specify which games Kelly would call, how many assignments he would receive, or when the first broadcast would occur. Those details are important because broadcast roles often depend on production schedules, partner staffing, and how the season aligns with existing announcer crews.

For Kelly personally, the shift would mark a familiar but consequential transition: moving from recruiting rooms and daily practice environments to a broadcast setting where storytelling and evaluation are delivered in real time, with less direct access to the “why” behind each decision. That is a different skill set than head coaching, even for a coach known for structured preparation and game-planning. If he does take the role, viewers will be watching how he communicates concepts like tempo control, defensive leverage, and third-down strategy without leaning on the on-field access he would have as a coach.

For the coaching carousel and college football’s talent marketplace, a move like this can also be read as a bridge between eras. Kelly has already been linked to one of the sport’s most high-profile coaching jobs in recent years, and a broadcast assignment could keep his name in front of decision-makers while he steps away from the daily grind of running a program. It can also influence how networks recruit other coaching voices, since CBS would be testing whether a high-profile former head coach can improve viewer engagement and analytical credibility.

What to watch next is confirmation and scope. The key questions are whether CBS and the Mountain West will publicly announce Kelly’s role, which games he is assigned to, and whether the booth plan includes a consistent partner for the season or a rotating schedule. In the short term, fans of Mountain West football will also be paying attention to how Kelly’s background translates to describing conference matchups, where schemes can look varied and game-state swings can be frequent. If the announcement comes to fruition, it will add a new layer to broadcast coverage at a time when the league’s national exposure continues to expand.