ADVOCATE KELLY FIRED THE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
La. colleges are paying athletes, but records are secret
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
|
M o n d ay, o c t o b e r 27, 2025
$2.00X
Decision to part ways with LSU coach finalized Sunday following embarrassing loss to Texas A&M
‘Revenue sharing’ arrangements raise concerns
BY JOSEPH CRANNEY | Staff writer College athletes at public universities across Louisiana are expected to receive at least $20.7 million in compensation this year, records and interviews show, after a landmark NCAA settlement in June allowed them to begin collecting paychecks directly from their schools. LSU has earmarked $18 million in direct payments to its athletes, a senior athletic administrator said, 90% of which will go to football and men’s basketball players. Among Louisiana’s remaining public schools, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the University of Louisiana at Monroe and McNeese State have said they’ll pay players more than $2.7 million, according to payroll records and athletic officials for those schools. The payments are a turning point in college sports. College athletes have been allowed to earn money through endorsements since 2021, which led to windfalls for brandforward Louisiana athletes like LSU Dunne gymnast Olivia Dunne. Endorsements are still permitted and will likely remain the primary breadwinners for many college athletes, though they’re subject to new NCAA regulations. The House v. NCAA settlement in June, however, permits college athletes for the first time to also be paid directly by their universities, effectively in salaries. The changes mean that powerhouse programs that rake in hundreds of millions of dollars a year through conference royalties, TV deals and ticket sales must share a chunk of the money with their top players — up to an NCAA-set cap of $20.5 million, per school — or risk them transferring to a school that will.
ä See ATHLETES, page 4A
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
LSU coach Brian Kelly listens to a question following the loss to Texas A&M at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge on Saturday. BY WILSON ALEXANDER | Staff writer Brian Kelly parked his black Audi in a space reserved for LSU’s head football coach for the last time at 7:58 p.m. Sunday, two minutes before the beginning of a team meeting. He tucked his left hand into the pocket of his jeans and walked inside the football operations building, waving to a couple staff members on his way to address the players and coaches. It was the last time Kelly would do so. In the midst of his fourth season, Kelly was fired Sunday evening. The decision was made the day after the Tigers lost 49-25 at home to No. 3 Texas A&M, their third loss in the past four games. Decision-makers, including Gov. Jeff Landry, held discussions throughout
ä Kelly’s buyout: A look at how much LSU would owe him. PAGE 1C ä Rabalais: Brian Kelly’s talk never lived up to his results at LSU. PAGE 1C the day, sources said, related to Kelly’s future and his buyout. Kelly is owed roughly $54 million, according to his contract, which would be the second-largest buyout in college football history. That could be offset if Kelly takes another job in coaching, administration or media. The two sides will continue to negotiate terms of the buyout, which were not finalized Sunday. It can be paid in monthly installments through 2031. “When coach Kelly arrived at LSU
four years ago, we had high hopes that he would lead us to multiple SEC and national championships during his time in Baton Rouge,” LSU athletic director Scott Woodward said in a statement. “Ultimately, the success at the level that LSU demands simply did not materialize, and I made the decision to make a change after last night’s game.” Running backs coach and associate head coach Frank Wilson was named the interim head coach for LSU’s last four games of the regular season and a potential bowl game. Wilson was previously the head coach at McNeese State and UTSA. The Tigers are 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the SEC heading into an open date before they play Alabama.
ä See KELLY, page 5A
Questions linger after Elayn Hunt inmate dies hours after release BY QUINN COFFMAN | Staff writer Treylin Deville was released from Elayn Hunt Correctional Center on July 23 after being held for 10 years for an armed robbery he committed at 17. Less than 24 hours later, the 27-year-old Deville was dying on
WEATHER HIGH 81 LOW 58 PAGE 12C
a roadside in Evangeline Parish, more than 80 miles from the Baton Rouge group home where he was supposed to be, according to internal emails from Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections staff. What happened in the intervening hours is still unknown, includ-
ing whether Deville, of Ville Platte, ever made it to the group home or how he traveled such a long distance, leaving his family with questions and planning a lawsuit against the DOC. Asked about the procedure of Deville’s release, Tiffany Dickerson, communications director for
the DOC, said in an emailed statement that one correctional officer has been placed on leave and “the administrative process is ongoing.” Deville’s family says he suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and was incapable of advocating for himself. When authori-
Classified .....................6C Deaths .........................7A Nation-World................2A Comics-Puzzles .....3C-5C Living............................1C Opinion ........................8A Commentary ................9A Metro ...........................6A Sports ..........................1B
ties called to tell them Deville had died, family members didn’t even know he had been released from prison, they said. DOC officials have not provided a time or location that Deville was last under their care and supervi-
ä See QUESTIONS, page 5A
101ST yEAR, NO. 119