For the first time in decades, college football will kick off the 2026 season without Brian Kelly on an FBS sideline. After being fired by LSU midway through the 2025 campaign following a 5-3 start, the 64-year-old head coach—who amassed 34 wins with the Tigers—found himself without a new job during the ensuing coaching carousel. But don't mistake his current unemployment for a lack of ambition. Kelly recently revealed he's taking an unconventional approach to staying game-ready: artificial intelligence.

In a conversation with USA Today, the veteran coach shared how he's been using AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT to keep his playbook sharp. "Every day, I'm trying to do my due diligence using Claude and AI, asking questions to build some of those answers that I think can be helpful for me as I get in front of an athletic director," Kelly said. He sees this tech-savvy preparation as a key part of the modern coaching landscape.

Kelly isn't just brushing up on X's and O's—he's diving into recruiting and roster management. "Claude is probably a little bit better in predicting some of the things outside the lines, whereas ChatGPT is much more driven right down the center," he explained. "But there's some interesting things that I've laid down relative to recruiting, profiling, transfer portal—there's a lot of work you can do."

For Kelly, embracing AI isn't just a stopgap—it's the future. "I think it's going to have to be part of the next iteration in coaching. You're going to have to utilize those tools," he said, adding a grounded perspective: "Now, look, it's not going to take over everything. Balls and strikes are here to stay in Major League Baseball." As the coaching carousel spins on, Kelly is betting that staying ahead of the curve—with a little help from artificial intelligence—will land him back in the game.