Pete Thamel questions who will make hire at LSU without university president

LSU is nearly 48 hours into its coaching search after firing Brian Kelly on Sunday. However, as far as this process goes, ESPN’s Pete Thamel is still unclear on who is actually making that eventual hire and decision down in Baton Rouge.

Thamel discussed that dynamic with the Tigers while breaking down Kelly’s firing on the ‘College GameDay Podcast’ with Rece Davis and Dan Wetzel on Monday. He didn’t understand, with there being no president currently at Louisiana State University, who is actually in charge of this at the moment, whether that be AD Scott Woodward or, based on his apparent involvement in what took place this weekend, even Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry.

“It’s hard to know what that group is thinking, because it’s to know who’s, you know – with Governor Landry in the picture here, you have to wonder who’s making the hire. There’s no president. There’s a power void,” explained Thamel. “Politicians tend to like cameras. Like, Landry was, like, glow-tweeting himself from the other night, which I thought was hilarious. By the way, just for the chaos, which helps our podcast? Governor Landry’s involvement, you know, will be very good for content in all this.”

“I think, going forward, is Scott Woodward making the hire. He’s quoted in the press release. That would make you think he’s safe going forward.”

Beyond that, Thamel added that someone still has to be in charge of negotiating the actual buyout terms for Kelly. That’s with, reportedly, no terms yet officially agreed upon by the school and the now former head coach of the Tigers.

“With the unstable politics of Louisiana, and, you know, the large buyout that they’re on the hook for that they’re negotiating? As Tom Mars said, you don’t negotiate your loan with Chase…Now, we all understand that because we’ve been in this business for a while, you know,” said Thamel. “If Governor Landry wants to do like a hero save? Now, if it’s $53 million over, whatever, six more years? Are those negotiated as, hey, we’ll give you more up front, get it off the books. Some of that stuff is kind of common – might take a little less to get a little more up front. But, like, they’re not just going to take half? And, I’m not saying, like, Brian Kelly. But, nobody is going to take half of what they’re owed. Like, that would be foolish to do that when there’s no hint of anything nefarious involved here with that.”

Firing Kelly and hiring the next head coach at LSU was already going to be complicated, considering the buyout and the profile of the job down in Death Valley. The confusion of the current power structure, though, only makes it more so down in the bayou.