LSU coaching search: Josh Pate breaks down Tigers hot board, critical factor in hire

As LSU‘s head coaching search heats up now that Brian Kelly is out, analysts everywhere are trying to get a handle on what the search might look like. In doing so, Josh Pate provided some analysis of some of the candidates on the LSU hot board created by On3’s Pete Nakos.

There are close to a dozen names, and Pate touched on a few of them. Starting with a popular potential target.

“Marcus Freeman‘s on the list,” Pate said on Josh Pate’s College Football Show. “I know that’s a hot button issue considering they just took a guy from Notre Dame and it failed. That means nothing. You’d take 14 coaches from Notre Dame if you think they’re the right ones. Now what we don’t know is will he have any interest in the job. But that’s why you make the phone call, you’ve got to find out.”

Louisville coach Jeff Brohm was another coach on the LSU list of candidates. He’s having a strong run with the Cardinals, though he is at his alma mater.

But pulling Brohm away from the place he loves wasn’t the chief concern Pate had. Instead, it was about fit.

“I’ve spoken many times, many times, about how good I think Jeff Brohm is, how good he would be anywhere,” Pate said. “The thing about Jeff Brohm is he doesn’t really care what you think about him. He knows how to win. If you value such things, then Jeff Brohm is your guy. He just is not the most equipped to kiss the babies and to take the pictures and to make all the appearances. I guess he could, it’s just not up his alley. He’s too busy winning.”

Staying a little closer to home, there’s another coach that might be on LSU’s radar. Particularly if the Tigers decide to go the lesser-known, up-and-coming coach route.

That’s Tulane head man Jon Sumrall. There is one potential hurdle.

“Jon Sumrall, now the thing about Sumrall that I wonder, because Sumrall would be close to the top of many lists for me right now,” Pate said. “I’ve talked about Jon several times. He’s the head coach at Tulane, for those of you unfamiliar.

“I was doing Blake Ruffino‘s show down in Louisiana yesterday, and he mentioned something on-air, it wasn’t private, he said, ‘I kind of wonder from the political side of things, since you have the governor involved on the LSU coaching search, what are the optics involved of taking the head coach of Tulane … and moving him over to LSU.’ And I never thought about it. I have no idea if that means something or not. Just something to keep an eye on.”

As to the viability of the hire for LSU, Pate suggested it’s a real possibility. He discussed.

“I think Jon Sumrall has a lot of fans in that building,” he said. “Jon Sumrall has a lot of fans in a lot of buildings.”

Finally, Pate wrapped up on the early LSU coaching search with the guy perhaps best known and getting the most early love. That’s Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin.

“I’ll go back to the same thing with Kiffin that I’ve always said: Does he know what he would do if this offer was put in front of him?” Pate said. “I know what his representation would do. His representation would want him to take the job. His representation is not him. He is him. … Does Kiffin know what he would do if this offer was put in front of him? I don’t know. It could come down to a coin flip in the parking lot for all I know. Does he value this job over the Florida job?”