ascension

walnut street brewery, around the block from the Pearl Street Mall. Great Country Fried Steak

First post, usually I just troll, but tonight I have to put my .02 in.

If as it appears, SOS, Saban, and JDR are the 3 most likely candidates here is my take.

SOS - Once a great coach, still a solid one, probably the greatest innovator in modern CF history. A safe hire, his coming here would probably ensure LSU continues to win 9-10 games a year. Would recruit well (8-12 ranking), but not great. I'm 39 and can still see him in 90s with his visor intimidating the hell out of the other teams fans, players, and coaches. But the young men he will try to close the deal with were born in 1990 and don't share the same memory. They identify him as the coach that didn't make it in the NFL and is now chasing Georgia and Florida and trying to get USC to overachieve. Good but we can do better!

Saban - Always will be grateful for the crystal he helped bring here! But he is damaged goods. How is he supposed to go back to Miami and recruit a Bowe, Highsmith, or a Jean-Francois. Do you think he will go to Mobile and ever sign a Jamarcus, Chevis Jackson, Phelon Jones, or Sidell Corley. He might occasionally get one, and will probably get all the LA kids but it will not be the same as it was. I know that those on here think that he can have a press conference, affirm his love for LSU and his regret for ever leaving it, and maybe even shed a tear, but it is over! I don't want to be the butt of jokes like Alabama has been in news stories and ESPN news. In this day and age it will kill our image and whether we like it or not its the image that convinces great athletes to come here. I think I would throw up a little the first time he has a press conference and says process, relative, and compete over and over. We can do much better!

JDR - How often does a successful! NFL head coach who played 10 or 11 years in THE LEAGUE who is only 43 or 44 show an interest in coming to your school.
He is what Spurrier was in 1990 and what Saban was in 2000. In the NFL nowadays if you improve a teams win total 4 years in a row going from a joke to a contender you haVE Skills. If he didn't have great interpersonal and motavation skills he would not have succeeded, and it is my opinion that these same skills will make him a great great recruiter. An NFL coach from Florida, the hotbed of talent no less. We would get incredibly positive publicity from his hire as it is unheard of as best my memory serves for a successful NFL coach who may yet to be in his prime bolt for college. As far as going back to USC, I know that in my family if mama ain't happy I ain't happy and she is from here. Also for his daughter to have chosen LSU when I'll bet she could have gone anywhere, to me says alot about how his family feels about this area.

Its time to not play it safe or live in the past and try to rekindle what was once great but now isn't. Fact is no one is a 100% sure thing. Del Rio IMHO is the closest thing to a home run as we can get.

Fire away!!!