LSU football: 3 big names to target to replace Ed Orgeron

If the LSU football program needs to replace Ed Orgeron, look for them to swing for the fences.

Not even a full two years removed from a perfect national title-winning season, and LSU football head coach Ed Orgeron is already on the hot seat.

The Bayou Bengals lost their first home game to division rival Auburn since 1999. It is not even the middle of October and LSU has been eliminated from the College Football Playoff. A road loss to UCLA and falling at home to Auburn will do that to you. All the while, the pressure is starting to build in Baton Rouge, and it could cost Orgeron his job at the end of the season. He must win now.

In Pete Thamel’s latest article for Yahoo, he reports if LSU does plan to fire Orgeron at the end of the season, it will be both a short list and one full of college football coaching rockstars. While some might think Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady would be a candidate, he is expected to stay in the NFL at this point of his coaching career. So he is not a candidate right now.

The other interesting caveat here is LSU athletic director Scott Woodward did not hire Orgeron, having been at Texas A&M when Coach O was promoted from the interim the year after the Les Miles termination. Orgeron’s buyout might be steep, but LSU is grossly underperforming with the amount of blue-chip talent it is on the roster. This is one of the better jobs in the entire country.

Of the three big-name candidates Thamel outlined, here are their viability to take over at LSU.

LSU football: 3 big-name replacements to take over for Ed Orgeron in 2022

Lane Kiffin has Ole Miss humming, but his ties with Orgeron makes this hard

Despite falling on the road last week to Alabama, Lane Kiffin has his Ole Miss Rebels playing great football during his second year in Oxford. This is his fifth combined season since becoming a college football head coach once again after the Nick Saban rehabilitation plan. We know that Kiffin can recruit and that his offense will put up points, but he presents a ton of baggage as well.

Switching teams in the SEC is always a tricky proposition. While Dan Mullen did it most recently, that was going from Mississippi State to Florida, two schools who are not traditional rivals. As for if Kiffin were to leave Ole Miss for LSU, that would make a certain generation of Magnolia Bowl enthusiasts very mad. There is also the strong rapport he has had with Orgeron over the years.

Kiffin has done a ton to rehabilitate his image since hitting rock bottom on the tarmac. He was replaced by Orgeron at USC in the interim. They had also worked together previously on Pete Carroll’s staff at USC and during Kiffin’s one-year run with the Tennessee Volunteers in 2009. While Kiffin could do great at LSU, taking over for his fired friend will create a huge fracture.

Though the fit makes sense, the timing does not seem to be right in Kiffin’s favor for the LSU gig.