Today's Rabalais article is very interesting!

Good points all around. I agree with his Herman assessment, small sample size at a non-FB power school and I'll add vs avg at best schedule... Could be BIG, might not be...
With that said I think J.F. is the right choice. Exp running a major program (big games/on the road, recruiting), with a NC, and he has experience in the SEC. Pay the man, keep Aranda, sort out the rest of the staff...and finish this 2017 recruiting cycle STRONG. GT!

If we hire Bob Stoops, I will stop following LSU football.

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No, LSU has to go big. Go after a huge, tidal wave-making name, like Alabama did when it pried Saban away from the Miami Dolphins and like Michigan did when it brought home Jim Harbaugh from the San Francisco 49ers

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This sounds great in theory, but fails to consider the circumstances that surrounded those types of hires.

Saban was likely looking to get out of Miami and Bama just so happened to have an available job. If Bama had fired Shula one year earlier, Saban would not have been the Bama coach (he wasn't leaving the Dolphins after one season)

EVERYONE knew Jim Harbaugh was on his way out of SF. The timing just worked out perfectly for Michigan. If the search takes place a year earlier (when SF went to the Super Bowl), Harbaugh is not Michigan's coach today.

Meyer was out of coaching when he was hired at OSU. The same OSU program who had an opening ONLY because they were forced to fire a guy they really didn't want to fire (Tressel)

We've seen Texas put all their eggs in one basket (Saban) and come up empty. Hopefully LSU doesn't do that.

I have no doubt that LSU will pay whatever is necessary to bring in a new coach. The question is will that "splash" hire be available? Bama, OSU and Michigan were in the right place at the right time. Is Chip Kelley growing tired of the NFL? Maybe Pete Carroll is getting a bit complacent in Seattle? Maybe Jon Gruden isn't all that happy that Mike Tirico left? Who the hell knows?

The list of people who LSU fans would largely consider a "splash" hire is pretty short. Jimbo Fisher is probably the most realistic of the bunch right now unless there is something about another guy the media/fans know nothing about.

Finally, Rabalais uses revisionist history to judge the impact of the Saban to LSU hire. 1999 Nick Saban is not the same as 2016, or even 2005 Nick Saban. Back then, he was thought of as a good coach at MSU, but certainly not a name that EVERYONE had to have. Hell, many fans were skeptical because he was the guy that Dinardo hammered in the Indy Bowl just a few years before.

Some good posts in the comments section of this article...

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According to Joe Alleva, head coaching experience a "Must," to be considered for the LSU job. Well, in 1955, LSU A.D. Jim Corbett hired a 35 year old assistant coach, Paul Dietzel, three years later we won a NC; A.D. Bob Broadhead hired Bill Arnsparger in the early 80's, and Chancellor Mark Emmert hired Nick Saban in 2000, three years later he won a NC. Paul Dietzel was an assistant coach with no head coaching experience, Arnsbarger was the Defensive Coordinator of the Miami Dolphins with little or no head coaching experience, and Saban was hired away from Michigan State by LSU President, Mark Emmert, and he bacame a super star at LSU. Two things about Dietzel, Arnsparger, and Saban: Of all the nine or more coaches in the 60 some years this period covers, they were the only three that left on their own accord and not fired. Naturally they were considered traitors when they left. All the other coaches were FIRED. So, six out of nine or so coaches were fired. SEcond thing about the three is two out of the three had head coaching experience. Leaders are hired more on the basis of potential and than accomplishments. No surprise that Corbett, Broadhead, and Emmert were very successful leaders because they knew how to gauge talent. For Alleva to write in stone that the candidate must have or have been a head coach eliminates many good candidates with lots of potential. For example, the Houston Coach, Herman, was the OC at Ohio State when the Houston A,D signed him, and by the standards Alleva sets, Herman would not get a look cause he is not a head coach. Hopefully, Alleva will take a seat on the sidelines and let more competent people handle this. BTW, Bob Broadhead also brought to Tiger Land an unknown assistant baseball coach from Miami, named Skip Bertman, who had a fair career at LSU. Again, by the standards set by Alleva, Bertman would have not got a look. Gotta have head coaching experience per Alleva. Not Good. He is doing this to "Cover his rear end."
-Bobby Coxe

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