This is where the best ADs earn their money

We know

Worst AD in the SEC is a stretch considering one school has a lack of institutional control looming over their head. Yea his hiring and firing is pretty bad I'll give you that but the other things an AD does he is pretty good at. Has upgraded facilities in every sport, gymnastics tennis and gold have become relevant because of some of this, kept the money flowing even tho most AD's could pull that off and most importantly we aren't staring down any NCAA investigation.

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the dude he originally "hired" dumped him after the press conference.

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How is that Alleva's fault? Murphy was a 100 percent home run hire. He backed out and Alleva made a great hire to fix that. Alleva should actually be commended more for the way he handled it. Should not be seen as a negative on Alleva at all.

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the dude he originally "hired" dumped him after the press conference.

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I'm no Alleva fan, but the scuddlebutt was Murphy's "boyfriend" wouldnt move to Baton Rouge. Hardly Alleva's fault.

This is Alleva's strength.
He is the best Search Man in the business.
Just last fall he found a football HC nobody else in the nation knew was qualified for one of the top positions in college football.
"The Search" hired him.
AND, to top it off, he was able to hire him at a salary that is one of the lowest in the SEC.
AND, as best I can tell, a significant segment of the fan base is thrilled!
Let the Big Dog run!

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In my opinion, this is Alleva's last chance to show LSU fans he has what it takes to be the athletic director at a power 5 conference school.

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Nope. For better or worse, Alleva's wagon is hitched to Coach O's success, not to the new basketball coach.

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LSU doesn't need a big name head coach, but it needs a young coach - mostly likely a mid-major coach - that has head coaching experience, can recruit and can coach during practice and when it counts on game day.

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LSU doesn't need to pigeon-hole itself on what kind of coach it needs. I keep seeing "we need a young energetic coach" or an "up and coming coach", etc., etc. No, LSU needs to hire the best coach they can get for whatever they are willing to pay. Period.

Alleva needs to think outside the box and see what circumstances present themselves with other established coaches before just settling on a "young coach" or JUCO/DII guy. There's no rush to hire them right out of the gate. You can get them later in the process if your top choices turn you down. If I'm Joe Alleva I do the following:

1. Call Oklahoma City and see if Billy Donovan is interested in coming back to the college game and the SEC. Yes, it is an absolute long shot. But you have to ask. Things have changed since he took the job in OKC. Durant left. Westbrook is a MVP, but they are turning over that roster. They have gone from one game away from the NBA finals to the #7 seed in the West (maybe better by the end). In short, the OKC job isn't the same as when Donovan first took over. With the loss of Durant they are moving backwards from where they were when Donovan was hired. The NBA is a completely player driven league, which means coaching decisions are largely left to the star player. LSU could offer Donvoan money and comfort in coming back to the SEC.

2. With it being VERY unlikely option 1 would come about, my next call would be to Buzz Williams at Va. Tech. In 3 years he's turned that program around. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just can't see Va Tech, a place with zero basketball history, being his last stop. He's energetic. He's had success at now two different major programs (Marquette, VT). He's from Texas. His first D-I coaching job was at UNO. I think he would be a GREAT fit for LSU.

3. Kick the tires on Tom Crean. He has an acerbic personality but he's had decent success. Even though his success hasn't met the expectations of Indiana basketball, I think LSU fans at this point would love to have gone to the Sweet 16 3 of the last 6 years. LSU might be a chance to offer him a lifeline at a place he could have success without living under immense expectations

4. Call Scott Drew. What he's done with the Baylor program is flat out remarkable. He's taken them from virtually the death penalty to a top 10 program. I would say it makes no sense for him to leave his program to rebuild LSU, but the entire Baylor athletic dept is under intense scrutiny. LSU may provide a more comfortable work environment in a state he recruits hard anyway and at a place where his father has a longtime relationship with the former coach. I wanted Bryce Drew last season if Jones was let go. Why not try to get the older brother who has had great success?

5. Take a look at Steve Prohm at Iowa St. He's done a fine job at ISU, a place where, right now, basketball is the #1 sport. However, Fred Hoiberg is likely to get fired by the Bulls. No matter how well Prohm does, you know the fans are going to compare him to and long for their native son (Hoiberg) to return to Ames. I don't follow ISU basketball very much, but I would imagine Prohm is in a bit of a Les Miles situation. He's doing well, but not as well as the former coach who is still getting a lot of credit for the current coach's team. It took Les winning a national title to come out from under Saban's shadow (before he promptly went back under it a year later). Prohm was an assistant in Louisiana for seven years. He's an SEC grad (Bama). The "fit" at LSU seems right and I'm sure ISU would be happy to lose Prohm if they were getting Hoiberg back.

All 5 of those guys have proven they can win. Current circumstances COULD make the LSU job appealing, at least enough that it would be worth Alleva taking a look. Hiring the "young up and comer" or guys like Stansbury or Kermit Davis right out of the gate would be the easy thing to do (a la the Jones and Ogeron hires). From 30,000 feet up none of the guys listed above seem available to LSU. But digging under the surface might reveal they are more "available" than one thinks.

LSU may end up with a young up and comer. But I wouldn't make that hire until I knew I couldn't get a proven commodity

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[In my opinion, this is Alleva's last chance to show LSU fans he has what it takes to be the athletic director at a power 5 conference school.]


Alleva is already past this stage

Alleva is going to hire Stansbury. Stansbury will put together a binder and have an interview and Alleva will hire him. Alleva is terrible. Terrible. You don't have a press conference with a coach unless you know he's coming to coach. And if he's "your guy" you don't let him get away.

What has Alleva done at LSU? Let's take a look:
Screwing up firing Les Miles in 2015
Screwing up the football coaching search in 2016
Allowing the basketball team to bow out of postseason play in 2016
Getting worked over by the Florida AD and SEC in 2016
Screwing up the hiring of Pat Murphy.
Hiring Trent Johnson & Johnny Jones.

I'd really love to see Marvin Menzies here. He did absolutely fantastic at New Mexico St. and is a brilliant recruiter. He just took over UNLV this year so it would be hard to get him.