National Reaction: Shock

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Tom VanHaaren: I don't know what makes for a good hire anymore, but I don't think this is a good fit. Kelly has coached in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana his entire career. He's now going into the state of Louisiana to recruit and try to establish relationships. The timing is odd to me, because he just hired Marcus Freeman as his defensive coordinator at Notre Dame and Kelly was recruiting at the highest level he has recruited at with the Irish. It seemed like he was building some momentum for the future and had established a foundation with the assistant coaches.

Alex Scarborough: I understand the notion that Kelly will be a fish out of water in Baton Rouge. I can't picture him peeling a crawfish, either. But remember who took over the program in late 1999. Nick Saban didn't have a single tie to the region when he arrived at LSU. He was a West Virginia kid who coached primarily in the Big Ten, and he made it work, winning a national championship in 2003. And I wonder if Kelly's thought process in choosing LSU was that dissimilar from Saban's back then when he felt he'd maxed out at Michigan State, looked around and realized that LSU was a gold mine in a state loaded with talent (it has the highest number of NFL players per capita in the country) and no other Power 5 school with which to compete.

Chris Low: LSU athletic director Scott Woodward was determined to get a big name, and he got one. Brian Kelly is one of the most established coaches in college football at one of the most storied programs in college football. He has been able to recruit nationally at an elite level and guided Notre Dame to the College Football Playoff in two of the past three seasons and the BCS title game to cap the 2012 season. But recruiting in the SEC ain't (as they say down South) for everybody, and that's ultimately going to be the big question with Kelly. Can he consistently recruit in the SEC footprint against the likes of Nick Saban, Kirby Smart and Jimbo Fisher? He was wise to keep some of the best recruiters from the previous staff. That way, he's not starting all over again on the recruiting trail.

Mark Schlabach: Woodward promised LSU fans he'd land a whale, and while it wasn't Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher or Oklahoma's Lincoln Riley, he plucked one of the biggest names in the sport. Kelly's run at Notre Dame was probably the second best in school history, behind only Knute Rockne's, although he never guided the Irish to a national championship. I don't know if he's the right fit for the Tigers, but he was the best option left on the board. He recruited well at Notre Dame, despite its stiff academic requirements, so he and his staff won't have a problem recruiting in talent-rich Louisiana.

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