Bruce Feldman provides latest on LSU head coaching search
LSU announced over a month ago that the university would part ways with head coach Ed Orgeron at the conclusion of the season, and since then, it’s been radio silence on the rumor front.
Many expected Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher to be a primary candidate in LSU’s head coaching search, but that seems like a long shot after his choice of words Wednesday, as he completely shot down the idea. Others floated out Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker, but after reports surfaced of Tucker being on the verge of a once-in-a-lifetime extension, that seems unlikely, too.
FOX Sports/The Athletic college football reporter Bruce Feldman on Thursday appeared on The Paul Finebaum Show to discuss LSU’s head coaching search, which at the moment seems to have been kept largely behind closed doors.
“I don’t think Lincoln Riley is going to be the guy from my understanding,” Feldman noted, shooting down another candidate in the Oklahoma head coach. “So, the, you look at it and think Dave Aranda is having a really good year, he obviously knows Baton Rouge well, but last year, they really struggled. He’s been a head coach for two years — I also don’t know if Scott Woodward is going to want to go hire back from Ed Orgeron’s team in 2019 and make that move. Can Woodward get Luke Fickell out of Cincinnati? Maybe that’s the big hire. He’s obviously done a terrific job there, but he’s never been in the SEC. That would be a different dynamic.”
Prior to his arrival in Waco, Aranda coached a number of successful defensive units. What could make Aranda a good fit at LSU, as Feldman noted, is the fact that he previously coached at LSU. Aranda was the Tigers’ defensive coordinator and associate head coach from 2016 until 2019, leading them to the national championship before leaving for Baylor. However, again, there might lie the problem — perhaps Woodward and LSU won’t want to hire an Orgeron disciple. Fickell, on the other hand, has built Cincinnati up into a College Football Playoff contender, but he’s long been a tough coach to pull from his program.
“The guy I alluded to a bit ago, Matt Campbell, I think he’s a terrific coach. I don’t know if Scott Woodward or LSU would hire a guy who’s out of the top 25 in that year. And I don’t know if they could hire Billy Napier. As good a coach and as good a job as he’s done at Louisiana-Lafayette, I don’t know that LSU politically is comfortable hiring somebody from the Sun Belt. I think there’s a lot of big question marks. We don’t know that Scott Woodward is going to reel in a whale. Maybe he’ll surprise us in the end, but it doesn’t feel like it’s pointing in that direction right now.”
Feldman then added that he’d be “surprised” if LSU went in the direction of Lane Kiffin, in part because of the off-field baggage that Kiffin has carried in the past — although, he’s stayed away from those issues at Ole Miss.
Despite over a month having passed, there seems to be almost no clarity in the LSU head coaching search, as Feldman corroborated. But with so many other Power Five jobs opening, the clock is ticking for Woodward to make a decision.
As part of LSU’s separation agreement, Orgeron will continue to coach the LSU Tigers until the conclusion of the season, before the university goes its separate way. Orgeron, most famously constructed and coached LSU’s 2019 national championship-winning team, which featured Heisman Trophy-winner Joe Burrow and a perfect, 15-0 record.
He has amassed a 49-20 record in six years at the helm of the LSU Tigers, including a 9-11 record since the national title