What should LSU Football fans make of these Mike Tomlin rumors

The LSU football coaching search is off to a wild start.

But isn’t that every SEC college football coaching search (minus South Carolina, who had a pretty boring coaching search last year when they hired Shane Beamer)?

Anyway, back to LSU.

One of the big rumors floating around social media and LSU message boards is that Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is an option to replace Ed Orgeron as the Tigers’ next head coach.

Is Mike Tomlin a realistic possibility for LSU football?

Former Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley gave some validity to the Tomlin rumors this week during a radio interview with 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh.

Whaley told the radio show that he could see Tomlin leaving the Steelers for USC or LSU, noting that Tomlin could be the “CEO” of one of those programs. He also mentioned that Pittsburgh is about to go through a transition with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger approaching the end of his career. It could make sense for Tomlin to depart at the same time.

There’s a connection between Whaley and Tomlin — Whaley worked as the pro personnel coordinator for the Steelers for 10 years before taking the general manager job in Buffalo in 2013. Tomlin has been the Steelers’ head coach since 2007, which means they worked together 5-6 years in Pittsburgh. So it’s worth listening to Whaley’s comments.

But on the other side of things, Michael Beck, who covers the Steelers for SB Nation, pushed back against the Tomlin to USC/LSU rumors this week. Beck pointed out that Tomlin recently signed an extension with Pittsburgh to help the team through the Roethlisberger transition.

I tend to agree with Beck. It’s hard for me to imagine Tomlin leaving Pittsburgh for a college job — even a job as good as LSU (which is one of the top three jobs in the country).

Tomlin hasn’t coached at the collegiate level since 2000 when he was a defensive backs coach at Cincinnati. Why would he want to leave one of the most storied franchises in the NFL — where he’s one of the longest-tenured coaches in the NFL — for a college job?

The recruiting grind would be enough to turn off most NFL coaches.

It just doesn’t seem like something Tomlin would be interested in doing.

You never say never in a coaching search, but this is a hire I just don’t see happening.