Mailbag Podcast: When does LSU need to make a hire?

It’s the start of a new week for LSU football, just over seven days since the firing of Brian Kelly and with this fresh start, Matthew Brune and Shea Dixon are able to take a step back and break down everything they’ve learned from the past week. Bengal Tiger subscribers asked questions about the coaching search, the timeline, the contract, the decision makers, and more while also asking about the LSU vs. Alabama game and the keys for the Tigers.

It’s another busy week, so here’s our mailbag podcast!

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On the pod: When does LSU need to have a hire by?

Shea Dixon: It all comes down to the philosophy of do you, quote-unquote, and I think it would more be not trade-in, but do you go willingly into an unknown of no signing day with a head coach in place? And then even if you have like a backdoor deal, right — like let’s say Lane Kiffin — we’re using this example, any coach really that makes it into the playoffs — if they get in beyond that quarterfinal round, this is when it comes into play, right? Like you’re into January now, which is right when the portal’s about to open.

Yeah. Even then, let’s say you lose a quarterfinal round game, right? If within a couple of days you get named head coach, you’re showing up on campus when the portal is already open — when it’s opening, whatever. So you’re having to then come in, hire a new staff, and convince guys in that window not to go anywhere.

And with that being the only window, guys want to make visits. They do stuff like that. Like we have often seen natural attrition — guys wanting to have playing time elsewhere make up almost all of LSU’s transfer portal departures.

And we’re only talking about holding that together and preventing starters or guys you really wanted to develop and play in. We’re not counting that guys are going to want to make visits to LSU, that you’re going to have to find your targets, that you’re going to have to put together an entire roster based off of retention and addition through the portal — because we’re a month after signing day in a 14-day span of showing up to campus.

So, like this whole idea of the playoffs — it is one where I think that a deadline has to kind of be at least discussed. Quarterfinals, December 31st and the first — so yeah, the portal opens the second, whatever it is. Like you’re coming to campus when it’s already open and you need to get guys onto campus and convince your current roster to stay.

You have to be willing to risk that to get a coach. And let’s say again that it’s a behind-the-scenes thing with Kiffin or whatever — you can’t tell players on the team that that’s going on. Like, you’re not — that never comes all the way down like people would think. It’s like, “Oh, you can hold it all together, just tell everyone to keep it quiet and they’ll feel good about it.” That’s not how it unfolds.

So if it’s the right hire — Kiffin or anyone — if they feel it’s the right hire, I think they sort of say, “Deadline be damned,” right? It’s a risky proposition, but if it’s for the greater good of your project future, then you’re doing it.”