LSU football: Chad Ochocinco turns down Tigers’ coaching job

LSU football has had its fair share of offensive struggles this year. The Florida State loss way back in Week 1 was riddled with wasted possessions from Brian Kelly’s squad. The Tigers seemingly fixed this issue with a huge win over Mississippi State a couple of weeks ago, but the issues popped up again at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Even though the Bayou Bengals have continued to win football games—going 4-1 to start—the cracks were evident.

The foundation came crashing down on Saturday though in front of a sold-out crowd of over 100,000 fans at Tiger Stadium. LSU had its brakes beat off by Tennessee in a 40-17 rout in Baton Rouge. The Volunteers earned their first win over the Tigers in the Louisiana capital since 2005. The woeful offensive showing from the hosts has some asking for changes.

LSU football: Chad Ochocinco turns down Tigers’ coaching job

The two names on the chopping block amongst LSU fans are Offensive Coordinator Mike Denbrock and Special Teams Coordinator Brian Polian. The former’s abysmal showing this season has been more inexplicable given all of the talent that plays within the Tigers’ program.

One of the individuals who many reached out to regarding an offensive position is former NFL superstar wide receiver, Chad Johnson. Ochocinco, as he’s effectively-known, has shown a fondness for the LSU offense in recent days. This should come as no surprise seeing as Johnson knows what qualities any good receiving prospect needs nowadays.

Here is the star’s response when asked about a coaching future in the Boot:

It’s obvious that unlike others in Baton Rouge, Johnson is still optimistic about the program’s future under Kelly. It’s easy to forget on days like Saturday that the Tigers are still in the midst of a complete rebuild under the Notre Dame legend’s direction. It was always going to take a flawless performance for LSU to defeat the visiting Volunteers.

The Tigers have the puzzle pieces in place to succeed in the near future. Johnson even took it a step further and said the potential pieces are already in place. Players like Jayden Daniels, Armoni Goodwin, Malik Nabers and Emery Jones are going to lead this offense to great heights sooner rather than later. The key piece missing right now is consistency.

While it would be nice to have Ochocinco around as a mentor to the talented, young receiving core that the Bayou Bengals have this season, it doesn’t seem like he’s too interested in a full-time job. The six-time Pro Bowler knows significantly more about the game of football than many fans out there—myself included—so let’s just hope he’s correct about the future of LSU football.

All of that being said, Coach Ocho does have a nice ring to it.