Sources: Kelly officially fired by LSU without cause

"The posturing over Brian Kelly's $54 million buyout from LSU is over, sources told ESPN, as the school sent him a letter Wednesday saying it is officially firing him without cause. This means LSU is set to owe Kelly the $54 million remaining on his contract. LSU initially relieved Kelly of his duties Oct. 26 and made clear in public statements that the dismissal was performance-related. But in the weeks that followed, LSU left some ambiguity over the nature of the firing in the wake of pointed comments from Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry."

"On Wednesday night, new LSU president Wade Rousse sent a signed letter that reiterated what is clear in Kelly's contract. He'll be owed the liquidated damages from his contract and there is an onus on Kelly for the six years remaining on the deal to make "good-faith, reasonable, and sustained efforts to obtain qualifying employment for as long as liquidated damages are due." After Landry's comments about the money owed on Kelly's contract, including harsh criticism of then-athletic director Scott Woodward, Kelly's lawyers filed a petition for a declaratory judgement regarding his firing."

"In that legal filing, Kelly's lawyers said that unspecified LSU officials had informed Kelly's camp that he had not been "formally terminated." The attorneys pushed back on three items they claimed LSU officials raised -- the notion Kelly hadn't been terminated, that Woodward didn't have the authority to fire him and that there were any grounds for termination with cause. If LSU had attempted to seemingly reverse course from its initial public statements and attempt to fire Kelly for cause, the filing lays out the ways they had failed to handle that properly according to the procedures in his contract."

LSU officially fired Brian Kelly without cause and is set to owe the $54 million remaining on his contract. New LSU president Wade Rousse sent a signed letter confirming Kelly is entitled to the contract's liquidated damages and that Kelly must make good-faith, reasonable, and sustained efforts to obtain qualifying employment for the six years remaining. Kelly had been relieved Oct. 26 amid public statements citing performance reasons, and comments from Gov. Jeff Landry created subsequent ambiguity. Kelly's lawyers filed for a declaratory judgment, challenging claims about formal termination, Woodward's authority and any grounds for cause, and alleging procedural failures if LSU tried to change course.

Read at ESPN.com