BATON ROUGE, La. \u2014 Kenny Fogg started attending LSU football games when tickets cost $1 in the south end zone at Tiger Stadium.
\nFogg later \u2026<\/b>
\nBATON ROUGE, La. \u2014 Kenny Fogg started attending LSU football games when tickets cost $1 in the south end zone at Tiger Stadium. Fogg later relocated to the press box, where he\u2019s kept game stats since 1972. \u201cI\u2019ve been around a bunch of different coaches and seen them all,\u201d Fogg said. Fogg had a new coach to meet on Tuesday. Alongside by his wife Lynn, Kenny drove from Denham Springs to the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport to meet new LSU coach Brian Kelly. \u201cThis is probably the most exciting hire that I\u2019ve seen,\u201d Fogg said. \u201cI\u2019m more excited about Coach Kelly than I\u2019ve been any other hire we\u2019ve ever made. He\u2019s got a great resume. He hasn\u2019t won a national championship but this is the place to do it. LSU hired Kelly away from Notre Dame on Monday, ending a six-week search to replace Ed Orgeron, who reached a separation agreement with the school on Oct.17. After a final team meeting Tuesday morning at Notre Dame, Kelly arrived in Baton Rouge around 3:15 p.m. He will be introduced at a press conference on Wednesday. Kelly is getting a 10-year contract that will pay him at least $9.5 million per year, according to a school release. With incentives, Kelly could earn upwards of $100 million over the course of the contract. No other contract details were made available. Kelly\u2019s overall record is 263-96-2 record at Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Central Michigan and Grand Valley State. Notre Dame finished 11-1 this season, the sixth time Kelly has won 10 or more games in the past seven seasons. He passed Knute Rockne as Notre Dame\u2019s all-time winningest coach in September. Scott Dejean, a Baton Rouge native, hasn\u2019t missed an LSU home game in 40 years. Dejean never thought he\u2019d see the Tigers win a national championship, much less three over the past 18 years. Once he learned about the hire, Dejean was convinced Kelly will bring another title to Baton Rouge. \u201cI know everybody says he\u2019s 60 years old over but the last five years, he\u2019s had five 10-win seasons and gone the College Football Playoff twice,\u201d Dejean said. \u201cI think he\u2019s got a golden opportunity to do well because he\u2019s been at a major program. \u201cHe\u2019s taken on the big boys and he\u2019s been successful.\u201d Doraine Wilson expected LSU to hire Oklahoma\u2019s Lincoln Riley, who was announced as the new USC coach on Sunday. Amid reports linking him to the job, Riley said following Saturday\u2019s loss to Oklahoma State that he would not be LSU\u2019s coach. Wilson and Jo Lainehart, both of Baton Rouge and active in the Bengal Belles support group, thought LSU athletic director Scott Woodward would hire a younger coach. \u201cAt first we were a little taken back because we thought it was going to be someone young who can stay with us for many years, but after thinking about it we think he\u2019s going to come in and do a good job,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cI think he\u2019ll find Louisiana people are very welcoming and we\u2019ll see everybody is really excited.\u201d Kelly inherits an LSU program coming off its worst season since 1999. Orgeron began negotiating a $16.9 million separation agreement with LSU following a 42-21 loss at Kentucky on Oct.9. LSU announced Orgeron would not return in 2022 on Oct.17, one day after a 45-42 win over Florida at Tiger Stadium. In Orgeron\u2019s final two seasons, LSU was a subpar 11-11 and 8-10 in the SEC. \u201cCoach O did a great job and was exciting, but like he said, he didn\u2019t do what he was supposed to do the last two years,\u201d Fogg said. \u201cI thought that was nice of him to say that and to leave with good words and not bitter words. \u201cThat\u2019s good for the program and for him. He loves LSU.\u201d Adam Hunsucker covers LSU for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at ahunsucker@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @adam_hunsucker. Enjoy Adam\u2019s work? Consider a digital subscription for unlimited access.<\/p>\n