LSU coaching search: Greg McElroy predicts Lane Kiffin will take job, names backup choice

Greg McElroy predicted Lane Kiffin will take the LSU job, but conceded that Eli Drinkwitz would be their best backup option if he doesn’t accept. Currently, Kiffin is deciding between staying at Ole Miss or taking the LSU or Florida opening this cycle.

“I think it is the best job in college football that is currently open,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “When you look at the candidates, it’s pretty obvious. It comes down to two. Lane Kiffin is number one. (He’s) going to be the number one candidate for a couple of different places, and I think Lane Kiffin is very interesting in this entire conversation, because Lane Kiffin is an elite coach, especially in the modern era. There’s no denying what he’s been able to create, not even just at Ole Miss, but even in the time that he was at FAU prior to that he won a lot of games. 

“And I think with where the sport has gone, and kind of becoming a blend of the NFL and a blend of college football, there’s a little gray area between pro ball and amateur ball that we’ve always known about, right? There’s a little gray area now, and I feel like Lane Kiffin has found the right formula to having great success in the modern era by utilization of the portal being very attractive for skill position players like wide receivers and quarterbacks.” 

Kiffin and Ole Miss are expected to have some sort of decision or announcement following the Egg Bowl Friday. What that entails is anyone’s guess right now. If he stays, a successful coach like Drinkwitz might make a lot of sense for LSU, based on what he’s done at Missouri.

“I think all three are very much on the table right now,” McElroy said. There have been points in this process in which I thought for sure he was taking the Florida job. There have been points in this process in which I thought for sure he was going to stay at Ole Miss. I really believe that. I think he really has a great appreciation for what Ole Miss can provide him, because legacy, that’s the big thing that he can have at Ole Miss, is legacy … (But) I think Lane Kiffin is going to be the head coach of the LSU Tigers here at some point in the very near future … That will hurt for Ole Miss. For sure their program is in a far better position today to hire the next guy than they were prior to Lane Kiffin’s arrival. So I think Lane Kiffin is going to end up at all at LSU. 

“If he doesn’t, I fully expect it to be Eli Drinkwitz at Missouri, who has done a really good job in creating offense. They run the football at Missouri. That’s what LSU has done traditionally very well, is run the football, be good along the line of scrimmage, and then if you look to it, what Eli has done over the last six years, their defense has been excellent at times throughout the last few years, including this year, where they’re one of the best defenses in the country.”