Why does LSU have a "must have HC experience" requirement?

Mike Archer

FWIW,I would give Aranda the gig before allowing him to go elsewhere at the same capacity

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Mike Archer

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It's been 30 years lol

Mike Archer wasn't a bad coach. His mistake was that he got it in his head that he couldn't win big with Louisiana talent. Passed on some great Louisiana's to sign out state guys who didn't pan out or got home sick and left.

Well. he's the last one with no HC experience.

Dietzel (LSU 1st HC job)
McClendon (LSU 1st HC job)
Bo Rein (2nd HC)
Stovall (LSU 1st HC job)
Arnsparger (LSU 1st college HC job)
Mike Archer (LSU 1st HC job)
Hallman (2nd HC)
DiNardo (2nd HC)
Nick Saban (3rd HC)
Miles (2nd HC)
Orgeron (2nd HC)

Risk aversion. People want to know you've had at least some success running the entire show, not just one side of the ball.

Don't forget, OU also had Gibbs and Blake.

I'll tell you what if O fails, which I hope he doesn't, but if I were LSU, I would be keeping a close eye on Minnesota. I liked Fleck but many here were saying he hasn't coached at a big time program. I watched the ESPN feature "Being PJ Fleck" and he seems like a damn good up and coming coach. I'll be interested to see what he does there at Minnesota. If he takes that team to the top of the Big10, and it coincides with LSU needing a HC I would seriously consider that guy. I would hate to lose Aranda AND Canada if he takes this offense where I think he will.

If you have time check it out:

LINK /

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Dietzel (LSU 1st HC job)
McClendon (LSU 1st HC job)
Bo Rein (2nd HC)
Stovall (LSU 1st HC job)
Arnsparger (LSU 1st college HC job)
Mike Archer (LSU 1st HC job)
Hallman (2nd HC)
DiNardo (2nd HC)
Nick Saban (3rd HC)
Miles (2nd HC)
Orgeron (2nd HC)

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I think that list tells a compelling story.

McClendon and Archer were both "continuity hires". Both were hired from within to try to maintain staff continuity and to sustain the ongoing success. At the time, those weren't overly risky hires, given the players, staffs, systems, and relationships already in place.

Stovall was a major anomaly. He stepped in to fill a huge void due to Bo Rein's untimely death. It was a situation where an alum was quickly hired under some very unfortunate timing (like Mike Shula's hiring at Bama), much more so than him being the result of a true search process. Again, this indicates a high level of risk aversion ("keep it in the family").

Bill Arnsparger had been an NFL head coach, and a long-time assistant at the NFL and college level. He was hardly a "gamble hire" with no track record of running a team as a HC.

I think all of the people on that list show an extreme amount of risk aversion at LSU, and that pattern has been sustained over many years and across many different leaders. It's almost institutional, more so than any particular individual. You have to go all the way back to Dietzel to see a hire of someone without HC experience resulting from a normal search process.

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Arranda

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My feelings are places like LSU isnt a place where you learn how to be a head coach. I want a guy that has had the responsibility of an entire program on his shoulders before. The step up in responsibility from a coordinator to a head coach is huge. I just want a guy that has done it before. Some people might not feel that way and that is fine but that's how I feel.