NFL Candidates...if Herman/Fisher deal fails

First off, I feel that Herman or Fisher would be “home run” hires by LSU. With that being said, there are certainly a lot of rumors swirling right now, and I am sure there are some parties being played in these alleged negotiations. In the event that Herman & Fisher would slip through our hands, I seem to be with the majority in considering the hiring of Gundy, Fedora, etc. to be underwhelming. An underwhelming hire would obviously not be good for the program and probably further splinter and disgruntle our fan base that has been so for the last several years. I know the sooner we name a head coach the better in terms of recruiting. However, rushing into hiring a Gundy or a Fedora in desperation would potentially be a major mistake.

I admit that while I have been skimming the posts on the coaching changes board the past several weeks, I have not been reading every word, so I could have missed some of these names being discussed, so forgive me if you guys have already discussed these options. If nothing else, reaching out to some of these guys would at least give us more leverage in terms of negotiations with Herman and Fisher.

Jack Del Rio: I believe he is the lowest paid NFL coach at $3.5 mil/year, so we could certainly give him a nice raise. He played and coached with the Saints, and I also believe his daughter went to LSU. There is also uncertainty with the Raiders in terms of a potential move to Las Vegas. An interesting dynamic through would be that he would potentially have to coach against his son Luke at UF.

Bill O’Brien: Like Saban, he had success running a major college program, and then wanted to try his hand in the NFL (only he’s done better than Saban in the League). I have no clue if he wants to go back to college, but there was a rumor last year that he flirted with Maryland. It seems that it took some persistent negotiations on Bama’s part to get Saban from Miami. His salary is apparently $5 mil/year, so we could also likely give him a raise as well. Also, like Saban, he coached under Belichick. He also would be a popular name in East Texas in terms of recruiting having coached the Texans the past few years.

Doug Pederson: Played QB for ULM and coached HS in Shreveport at Calvary.

Todd Monken: Former LSU WR coach and head coach at Southern Miss. Dirk Koetter tapped him to call the plays as OC for the Tampa Bay Buccs this year, so he is a pretty well respected offensive mind. He has connections in the deep south from coaching at USM and LSU. He only won 1 game in his 1st 2 years at USM, but that refects somewhat on the state that Fedora left that program in. Monken won 9 games at USM last year before they lost to a good WKU in the CUSA title game.

So, after this long post, my question is…does anyone know if LSU has reached out to ANY NFL candidates, or vice versa?