Hot Seat Watch: How much would firing McMahon cost LSU?

LSU has reached the nadir as a men’s basketball program. Matt McMahon’s team lost to Arkansas 91-62 on Tuesday night in a lifeless PMAC. The Tigers were hopeless from the opening tip and the team looked like one that knew the end was here.

Could it be time for LSU to move on from McMahon? I wrote a column two weeks ago saying it was time to move on, but the complications could come with the buyout and trying to ensure that firing him would come with an investment from the donors to get this program back on its feet.

Pete Nakos reported on Monday that McMahon would be due $6.5 million if he were fired.

The reported buyout is 80 percent of his remaining contract — a contract that runs through 2029. It’s unclear what the payout timeline is for McMahon, but there is an offset in the contract if McMahon were to get another job that would cut down the buyout. No matter how you slice it, it would be a massive investment for the school and athletic department.

In the middle of the season, new athletic director Verge Ausberry laid out a clear outline for McMahon in this make or break season.

“We’ve already had some discussions about what the expectations are,” Ausberry said. “One thing we want to do is make sure we’re in the NCAA Tournament. We made that very clear to Matt at the beginning of the year – that’s where we need to be.”

Ausberry softened his stance earlier this month, acknowledging McMahon’s situation, but at the same time, this situation is continuing to become more untenable by the game.

“It’s very important to us and I think one thing I’ve learned as an administrator is to not rush decisions,” Ausberry said. “Don’t make emotional decisions. You take your time to evaluate it and he lost his two best players to injuries and I think his record could be totally different. The thing I watch is they haven’t quit, they had chances against Georgia, Vanderbilt, and Arkansas. They’re tough. Those are things your watching and then you have a decision to make.”

If LSU misses the NCAA Tournament once again, it will mark its first five-year absence from the tournament since 2010-2014. Matt McMahon‘s job security, as Ausberry pointed at, will also be in critical danger. We’ll see if there’s an urgency for Ausberry to make a change or if he takes his time and waits to move on until the end of the year.

A perceived advantage of moving on early is making it clear to the country that LSU is ready to take basketball serious in a conference that has continued to elevate with the best in the country.