The main thing I'm watching with LSU is the budding power struggle between the new prez and the new AD. President Tate has inserted himself into the process, appearing in press conferences standing off to the side and speaking out on the matter, all of which is unusual at LSU until you know one thing. He's openly expressed he wants this to be a legacy hire and he wants to be the president to bring the first minority coach to the LSU football program. Following that, Mel Tucker and James Franklin are his 1 and 2, respectively.
They're on AD Woodward's list too, but we don't know how high. Woody is showing signs he wants Tate to butt out and let him do his job. We don't have a good sense of what order Woody's preferences are--I'm not sure he knows himself, I think he's still evaluating and open--but we do know some of the names on it.
Franklin is on it. LSU has already reached out and word is the initial contact did not go well. That's not to say that it couldn't happen, but that things didn't get off to a good start.
Tucker is on it. No idea if he returns the interest.
Kiffin is on it. Kiffin (or maybe more accurately his people) is openly winking back. That could be just a play for a raise from Ole Miss, but I doubt it. IMO Kiffin would jump to LSU in a heartbeat for the simple reason he can win a championship there and he can't at Ole Miss. I'd say the same for any school in that position. If Alabama, Florida, Ohio State, you name it, came open and offered Kiffin a job, he'd take it. He wants to win a championship.
Bill O'Brien is on it. Don't know if he returns the interest.
Luke Fickell is on it. From what I hear he doesn't want to coach in the South and would rather bide his time and wait for a Big Ten school to open up.
The stuff about Tomlin is odd, and it came out of nowhere just recently. I know that Woody floated out a number to agents, sort of running it up the flagpole to see who salutes. I don't know this--I repeat, this is nothing but a guess and theory on my part--I suspect that maybe this is where the Tomlin stuff came from. Whether Tomlin would go to a college team or not I have no clue--seems odd, but who knows--but I'm thinking his agent poked Woody back and said "Tell me more," and that's probably the extent of it right now. Again, I'M TOTALLY MAKING THIS UP.
Dave Aranda is more of a fan thing. So far I don't think he's a serious candidate.
Billy Napier is also more of a fan thing. I think he should be on the list, but as of this moment he's not.
In the category of "Hell No And Please Stop Talking About It" are Joe Brady and Jimbo Fisher. Joe Brady has zero interest in college, he doesn't like recruiting, he's probably in line for an NFL HC job sooner rather than later, and he has nothing on his resume to demonstrate he'd be a good HC at LSU. The guy installed some nice passing plays two years ago and that's literally it. That doesn't mean you're HC material and LSU knows it. Fisher and LSU burned all their bridges when LSU transitioned from Miles to Orgeron. The board and BMD's wanted him, they were foolish enough to think they had him, and he pissed them all off by rejecting them and going to A&M (hired by Woody, no less). Even if Woody tried to hire him again, he would be torpedo'd....there is no way the powers that be is letting that happen, even if they were convinced Jimbo was the best person for the job. As far as he's concerned, it's not a qualifications thing, it's a spurned/pride thing. Not happening. Urban Meyer almost certainly belongs on this list too, though I haven't heard anything about it. But given the problems with O, and I guess to a much lesser extent with Miles, I imagine LSU is going to steer well away from anyone with even a hint of stink on them.
