We don't know if he was Choice #1. He probably was, but it's a slam dunk for an upper level P5 to offer a G5 coach a job unless he has competing offers.
LSU is the team without a chair so far. They are more or less on par with UF and just whiffed, so far. Fickell is not in many rumors which I find interesting, he might be focused on coaching for some reason.