LSU's Brian Kelly Reveals Staggering Amount Of Money Spent On 2025 Roster Amid New NIL Era

Heading into the 2025 college football season, the LSU Tigers are looking to build off an experienced group of returners, led by quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, along with plenty of transfer portal additions that have them primed for a playoff run. But, how much did it cost for coach Brian Kelly to put together this team? 

One of the most dynamic conversations this offseason centered around the outcome of the House settlement, which allowed schools to start legally paying athletes for the rights to their name, image and likeness. 

In reality, it's another way of saying that the schools are paying these athletes to play at a school like LSU, so don't let the new rules fool you into thinking this is anything but a revamped version of the inception of NIL. 

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But, to win right now in college athletics, and obviously moving forward, you need to be able to afford a roster that is stacked with star athletes on both sides of the football. And for that to happen, you have to be able to raise money, which is why plenty of third-party collectives are still involved in the day-to-day activities within athletic departments. 

"You have to be competitive financially," Brian Kelly noted. "Like, I can't say ‘come to LSU we’re going to give you five dollars and the other school is gonna give you five million'. But, as long as you are competitive financially, most parents aren't making a decision on short money. 

"They're making decisions on where's the best place for my son to develop. Still get taken care of from a financial standpoint, where parents don't have to worry about travel anymore. They have housing, they have the ability the kid can put some money away in a 401K. They are in a much better position."

Yes, these athletes are learning to put money away, which is just one of the benefits of having professionals handle the financial aspects of playing college athletics. Oh, and you better have a good accountant, because there have already been plenty of players that have unfortunately learned the hard way about what happens when you don't pay taxes on their deals. 

How Much LSU Spent On Their Roster, While Front-Loading Deals

So, what does a school in the SEC, in this case LSU, spend on a roster in the first year of this House settlement era? A lot of the entire concept centered around front-loading deals for athletes, which got them off the books, so the contracts would not count towards the allotted sum from the House settlement. 

"We're going to be just about $18 million," Tigers head coach Brian Kelly said Thursday night on his coaches show.

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As Brian Kelly explained, pulling from both the athletic department side, along with the third-party collective side, allowed them to spread the money out. This also helped them secure deals that would not have been manageable if the Tigers did not go this route, like plenty of other schools did during the spring and early summer. 

'We were going to front-load a lot of our players prior to revenue-sharing. We wouldn’t be in a position where we were, when we got to revenue-sharing, we couldn’t compete," Brian Kelly explained to fans. "A lot of this was front-loaded contractually where our players were able to – and for us, we were able to get to them before revenue-sharing, and then use revenue-sharing to kind of put them over the top.

"So pulling from both of those resources really allowed us, from a contractual standpoint, to get a little bit of a jump on the crowd, if you will, because everybody now sees that plan and will be using it."

How does this compare with what Texas Tech is doing, thanks to billionaire booster Cody Campbell? The Red Raiders reportedly have a roster that will cost over $30 million for the upcoming season, which could end up being the highest payroll in college football this season. 

So, the money Brian Kelly says they are spending is actually in the right ballpark compared to others. 

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That's right, $18 million. But remember, schools have to decide how they are going to divide the $20.5 million they are legally allowed to spend in this first year of revenue-sharing. Multiple NIL sources tell OutKick that LSU is spending around $13 to $14 million of the overall sum allotted to the athletic department. 

That means the Tigers are paying an additional $5 million, and change, out of their fundraising arm, which is also known as the collective. Last December, Brian Kelly announced that he would be matching donations given to the Tigers NIL fund, up to $1 million. 

The fundraising campaign raised around $3 million, which certainly helped LSU afford to add plenty of key pieces from the transfer portal. But, as the Tigers head coach noted on his show, parents or advisors of these players have to look at the big picture when deciding on a school, knowing the bigger paychecks could come in just a few years. 

"The NFL is $280 million a year in salary cap.  We're going to be just about $18 million," Kelly said when comparing the pros of picking a school for development. "There's a big difference between $280 million and $18 million. So, if you can't see the difference between the two, then you're not really understanding that what you want to develop your son to be is the best version of himself so he can get the big money in three years."

While I appreciate Brian Kelly for being transparent, there are far more athletes choosing schools for the ‘right now’ money, compared to what they could possibly make in the NFL, if they even make it that far. 

And since it's never a guarantee, that's why athletes are making short-term decisions, which I can't say I blame them for doing.