Years earlier than he was dramatically fired as head soccer coach at Louisiana State College, Brian Kelly was coping with a cleaning soap opera in his private life.
In February 2023, Kelly, 64, filed for divorce from his spouse of 28 years, Francisca Craig Kelly (who goes by Paqui), in response to court docket paperwork obtained by WBRZ News.
The divorce petition said that Brian and Paqui would “bodily separate” on February 9, 2023, three days after the submitting.
Brian additionally requested a direct momentary restraining order in opposition to his spouse to guard his property. The pinnacle coach signed a 10-year, $95 million contract with LSU in 2021.
On the time, there was hypothesis that the divorce paperwork had been for an additional Louisiana man named Brian Kelly, however WBRZ posted the total divorce submitting on their web site, itemizing each Brian and Paqui.
In response to the paperwork, Brian and Paqui didn't enter right into a “covenant marriage,” described as a wedding by which each events agree it would final for the remainder of their lives.
Nonetheless, simply days after the divorce submitting, all three of the couple's youngsters — daughter Grace and sons Patrick and Kenzel — stated issues had been simply wonderful of their mother and father' relationship.
Patrick shared a photograph of Brian and Paqui with their arms round one another via X on February 9, the date listed as his mother and father' separation date on the divorce submitting.
“😆😆faux information,” Patrick wrote.
The following day, Grace additionally downplayed the demise of her mother and father' marriage.
Grace posted a separate picture of her mother and father smiling collectively at a desk through X on February 10.
“Issues look wonderful to me 🤔 ,” Grace wrote from her since-deleted account, however captured by the New York Post.
When LSU soccer reporter Preston Man wrote that “two of Brian Kelly's youngsters at the moment are publicly disputing the divorce report from WBRZ,” Kenzel additionally bought himself concerned.
Kenzel quote tweeted Man's publish and wrote: “Three***.”
In response to WBRZ, Brian and Paqui reconciled after the preliminary divorce submitting and Brian had the case withdrawn from the courts.
Two months later, Brian took to social media with a Mom's Day message for his spouse.
“Comfortable Mom's Day to my spouse, Paqui, and all of the superb LSU mothers. Have a beautiful day!,” Brian wrote via Instagram alongside a photograph of the couple hugging on the sidelines of LSU's Tiger Stadium.
Brian was fired by LSU on Sunday, October 26, with the college's athletic director Scott Woodward saying, “The success on the stage that LSU calls for merely didn't materialize, and I made the choice to make a change after final night time's recreation.”
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LSU misplaced at residence 49-25 to Texas A&M on Saturday, October 25, the ultimate nail in Brian's coffin. He was employed as head soccer coach on the faculty in November 2021 and completed with a 34-14 total document throughout his 4 seasons.
“We want Coach Kelly and his household the perfect of their future endeavors,” Woodward added. “We are going to proceed to barter his separation and can work towards a path that's higher for each events.”
Brian is owed greater than $54 million as a part of his contract buyout, the phrases of that are nonetheless being negotiated.
The LSU soccer workforce was made conscious of Brian's firing throughout a workforce assembly on Sunday, simply minutes earlier than the college introduced the information publicly.
