re: Is Baker to Tulane the right decision for him?

Not really sure how you can make that argument when the coach of Tulane just got the UF job.

That decision is up to Baker. He wants to be a HC and I do believe he will be a good HC. Whenever he wants to make the move will be when he deems it the right time.

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Two more years at LSU gets him more than 2 years at Tulane. Far more to be accomplished at LSU in two years than Tulane. 2 more years at LSU and you get a job offer way better than Tulane.

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Do some of you even watch what actually happens? Jesus

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I think it is a good decision either way. I hope he chooses to stay and go straight to a P5 HC job in 2-3 years.

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I hope he stays too, because I think that’s the only way we can truly compete for a championship in ‘26. If he leaves, I think there will just be too much turnover to realistically expect to be up there with the top teams and Lane should probably pivot and set his sights on ‘27 as the year to seriously make a run at an NC.

I don’t know if he’s capable of that, I just mean maybe focus more on portal guys with multiple years of eligibility remaining instead of 1 and dones. Maybe focus more on developing young talent already on the team and developing them to be ready to dominate in ‘27 as 2nd or 3rd year starters. I’m not saying punt on ‘26–still try to put together a team that can compete for a playoff spot, but just not at the expense of the ‘27 team. We’ll see how he balances the short term with the long term.

But as far as Baker is concerned, he’s got to take the Tulane job if offered. The timing is perfect for him. Could he stick around at LSU and get a P4 job? Sure. But it would be a South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi State type gig. Recent history shows it’s better to be G5 HC and have success and bounce to a bigger job than to go straight from being a DC, regardless of the team’s success. We could win the next 2 NCs, and Lane would get almost all the credit.

And besides Tulane being his alma mater, the fact that their last 3 coaches got P4 gigs after having success there, he’s also coached at LSU for 3 years, and LA Tech for however many he was there. So he has relationships with high school coaches and knows how to recruit the state of Louisiana. And he’ll likely take some guys from the LSU staff with him that have experience recruiting Louisiana as well.

And Lane says he’s going after THE BEST players, not just taking guys because they are from this school or that school. So Blake might be able to grab some Louisiana guys—especially from New Orleans—that might have normally signed with LSU but weren’t good enough to play here, but might wind up being significant contributors at Tulane.

So, I think that any DC should probably strongly consider the HC gig at Tulane. Even if they had zero ties to the school or the state of Louisiana. Just because of the recent success of their HCs getting P4 jobs. But Baker is uniquely qualified for that particular job even more due to his ties there. Timing is so important when it comes to these decisions. And I can’t see there being a better time/opportunity for Blake to make the jump than right now at Tulane. He can’t turn it down.

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Is Baker to Tulane the right decision for him?

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Yes, Tulane has a track record now of sending coaches to major programs. Also, being in the American Conference, he can make a good run for 2 years and bounce to an elite HC job. I want him to stay, selfishly, but Tulane is a great school to use as a stepping stone.

If Tulane was to join the ACC, i dont know where they stand in terms of HC opportunities.

The only reason I would be worried is Tulane really has nowhere to go but down

If he goes 8-4 for 4 straight seasons that will be considered “bad” and not sure will garner interest from big programs

But ultimately I think it’s smart to take the job

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Uhhh....no....he could maintain what Fritz and Sumrall did.

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Umm, thanks for saying exactly the same thing

He has to maintain 10-2 or better to match what the previous coaches did. That’s a tough situation. Also known as “nowhere to go but down”. This is a compliment to Tulane

Tulane needs to keep doing what they are doing. Yes, Baker will leave for a better job in 3 years or so, but that's ok.

If they keep making themselves a place where good coaches go to take the next step, then they make themselves an elite G5 school.

If they do what they did many years ago and get sick of it and hire someone that they think won't leave...mistake

This entire thread is mental gymnastics LOL.

The "best" coordinator-to-HC candidates this cycle received the following jobs:

Stein: Kentucky
Hartline: USF
Klein: Kansas State
Lupoi: Cal

Not a single one of those is a premier program. And both Klein and Lupoi only got the Kansas State and Cal jobs because they both played and coached there previously (ie: legacy ties).

Now look at the G5 coaches:

Sumrall: Florida
Golesh: Auburn
Morris: Oklahoma State
Silverfield: Arkansas
Chesney: UCLA

This list of jobs is clearly better than the grouping that the coordinators received. And when you look at Chesney and Morris you will see two guys that barely even had much G5 experience at all (2 years and 3 years), which proves that a coach doesn't even need to spend a lot of time at the G5 level before they become viable candidates elsewhere. Silverfield wasn't a "hot" prospect at all (sorry Arky fans) and that guy still ended up getting an SEC head coaching job that is basically on the same level as the job that "hot prospect" Will Stein received (Kentucky).

It is CLEAR that under the new model of CFB with NIL and the Transfer Portal that AD's are prioritizing existing head coaching experience and are simultaneously lowering coordinator candidates, and thus are pushing them to take G5 head coaching positions first. Auburn had the chance to promote Durkin, and they didn't. They chose Golesh over him because of existing HC'ing success, even with Durkin having the advantage of already having skin in the game at Auburn.

Finally: Kirby and Lanning are two outlier cases. Most of the past examples where a sitting coordinator received a HC job at a "top" program without ever being a HC previously involved them being promoted as the inhouse candidate at the school they were already at. For example:
Sherrone Moore to Michigan, Ryan Day to OSU, Lincoln Riley to Oklahoma, etc. Those guys got those jobs because they already had ins and were known products at those programs. They likely would never have received those jobs had they been coordinators elsewhere.