LSU Football: National columnist names 3 potential replacements for Ed Orgeron

Is LSU Football head coach Ed Orgeron on his way out of Baton Rouge?

It certainly appears that could be the case.

Coach O’s seat is extremely hot after losing to Auburn and first-year SEC head coach Bryan Harsin this past weekend. The loss to Auburn dropped LSU to 3-2 on the season.

That’s not the start Orgeron was hoping for after going 5-5 in 2020 (just a year after going 15-0 and winning a national championship).

Who would replace Ed Orgeron as LSU football’s head coach?

Yahoo Sports national college football columnist Pete Thamel wrote this week about Orgeron’s job status and who he believes could replace Coach O if LSU decides to make a change.

Thamel thinks Tigers athletic director Scott Woodward will try to land a big name. Woodward, after all, is known for making “splash” hires. He hired Chris Petersen at Washingon and Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M.

There are three specific coaches that Thamel thinks Woodward will target: Jimbo Fisher (Texas A&M head coach), James Franklin (Penn State head coach), and Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss head coach).

From Yahoo Sports:

"Who would Woodward target? The list will be short, as there aren’t many coaches who have the credentials, personality and coaching chops to handle LSU.Expect Woodward to go after Fisher, Penn State’s James Franklin or Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin."

Thamel doesn’t think former LSU passing game coordinator Joe Brady will be an option.

"The prevailing thought on former assistant Joe Brady is that he’s going to continue life in the NFL, as he has always enjoyed finding a schematic advantage more than recruiting."

Fisher is an obvious choice, given his connection to LSU (where he was the offensive coordinator from 2000-2006) and Woodward. Though it’s worth noting that Texas A&M is off to a similarly tough start in 2021 (the Aggies are 3-2), so I’m not sure this would really be an upgrade for the Tigers (that’s up for debate).

I think Franklin, who was the head coach at Vanderbilt from 2011-2013, would be interested in returning to the SEC. But I also think he’ll be interested in the USC job.

And as for Kiffin?

That would certainly be intriguing. Kiffin is a great play-caller, and he’s done well as a head coach, despite the controversy that usually follows him. It would be interesting to see what Kiffin could do with elite talent.

But would Kiffin want to follow his good friend as the head coach at LSU?

That’s a question that would have to be answered.

My gut says that LSU’s next head coach is none of these names listed. But college football coaching searches can be crazy, so who knows what will transpire in the next couple of months.

Maybe Orgeron doesn’t even get fired…