Should Brian Kelly have to give $1 million back to LSU over a clerical mistake?

Louisiana State University (LSU) reset the college football coaching market in 2021 when they signed former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly to a 10-year, $95 million contract. Kelly responded by winning 10 games in his first season in Baton Rouge highlighted by a home win over Alabama and an appearance in the SEC Championship Game. This is the work of a man that deserves a generous tip. So then why is Kelly giving back the extra million dollars that LSU gave him?

Only rich people can shrug their shoulders about seven-digit clerical errors.

According to a recent audit, somebody in Baton Rouge messed up and gave Kelly an extra $1,001,368, as someone forgot to stop transferring the money to his bank account instead of an LLC in his name.

This is why you should always check your accounts, even if you have automatic bill pay.

Given that Kelly paid twice, the sides have reached an agreement in which he’ll technically keep the money as he’s signed off on a reduced payment schedule until the school recoups their money.

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Dollars and sense

The discussion about whether or not Kelly did the right thing by “giving the money back” was just the hook to get you to click on/read this story. Because what I actually want to discuss is how Kelly’s situation is an example of how folks never seem to care about the money that college coaches make, but then will turn around and lose their sh*t when it comes to NIL money.

Don’t you find it funny that nobody batted an eye when it was announced earlier this week that Tennessee head football coach Josh Heupel’s contract extension came with a raise that will pay him $9 million per year?

But yet, people acted like the world was going to end because Jaden Rashada had the good business sense to ask for a release from his letter of intent to play at Florida after a $13 million NIL deal fell through. The highly touted quarterback will have multiple suitors as he’s looking to make the best business decision for himself and his family — which is the same line that coaches use when they change jobs for better paydays.

And if you don’t want to receive this message for me or think it’s overblown, here’s a link from NPR in which Nicole Auerbach, senior writer for The Athletic, is describing how the NCAA has been practically begging Congress to help them out with NIL because a non-profit agency like the NCAA — which annually brings in a billion dollars in revenue — is in a state of hysteria because college athletes are making too much money for their liking.

Brian Kelly did the Christian thing by making sure that LSU recouped the extra million that they accidentally gave him. But the actual Christian thing to do would be for the Christians who are involved in collegiate sports to upend a system that’s built on injustices, unfair labor practices, and cruelty.