re: Matt Campbell from an Iowan

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He won the recruiting battle for Breece Hall.

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Hall wasn't exactly a highly recruited player amongst the big time programs. Still a great pull for ISU, but the battles he would have to fight to get the talent LSU needs to win at a high level will be MUCH tougher than fighting off the Baylor's, Iowa's and Kansas's of the world.

Does he have the temperament to get into those battles on a daily basis in the SEC would be the question. Given that Orgeron and Miles won NCs here, one would think Campbell could as well. But, despite their flaws, Orgeron and Miles recruited VERY well...which helped them overcome some coaching deficiencies.

Riley & Campbell have a head to head matchup this weekend. I’m sure this board will be very busy!

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Matt runs a spread, but he doesn’t just stick to it. If you have a small team, he will bring out 3 TEs and use them in the both the passing game and running game. He takes advantage of the opposing teams weaknesses.

Defense is a 3-3-5. They disguise blitzers, honestly, what you’ve seen the last 2 weeks from LSU is the type of defense that he runs. His linebackers are the lifeblood of the team.

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And that belies one of the traits I would require for any HC at LSU.

The idea that you use every advantage you have, every opportunity, despite 'your system', or what you did last game, or what you did last year, is what defines a coach over a playcaller.

Plenty of flexibility, aggressiveness, and killer instinct is what that belies. I want a coach who thinks to himself, you know I COULD line up and beat you without anything fancy- but I want to use every tool in the box.

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despite their flaws, Orgeron and Miles recruited VERY well.

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Recruiting skills at LSU are overrated and some get credit because of it. I will explain that comment. I challenge anyone to find a time when recruiting was bad at LSU? Sure there was a period when hot teams came in a stole recruits. Miami, Colorado, Florida State did well here in the early to mid 90's. Alabama did this in the Monroe area recently (Saban is a difference maker ) The reason these teams in the 90's lost recruits was because LSU was a bad program. But the teams were still talented. Curly went 5-6, 2-9, 5-6, 4-7. The Dinardo immediately went 7-4-1, 10-2, 9-3, then had some down years. Saban immediately went 8-4, then 10-3 and won the SEC. LSU will never lack for talent, they are blueblood that is in a talent rich state by themselves. Even when outsides make some inroads and steal some talent we want LSU is still fine. Coaching and running the program is Number 1 in my book.

I'm good with Matt Campbell

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Jack Mariucci says this is the most high character team he's ever seen at LSU.

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Please provide a link to this. He said this during the 2019 Championship run but I have not seen him say that this year.

Campbell is the one coach in the process that I know the least about. That doesn’t mean he isn’t a great coach and it doesn’t mean he couldn’t do great things at LSU but it makes it hard to get overly excited about him simply because I don’t know much about his teams, his coaching, etc. That said, I am encouraged the search process includes names like Campbell. That is what a thorough search looks like, vetting qualified coaches to find the right coach.

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bringing in the huge corn fed Oline men would be clutc

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Any coach that can upgrade our OL talent and/or performance will result in an immediate on field improvement.

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he recruiting is the only question mark because you MUST recruit at the very highest level to compete in the SECW alone. If he can put to rest those concerns then LSU could do FAR worse than hiring Campbell.

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I'm not sure I agree with all the people worried about Campbell's recruiting.

Repeating something others have said, it's NOT easy to recruit talent to Ames, especially when you're the little brother to Iowa...

...and, yet, he's managed to do so and put together teams that can - on any given Saturday - take most teams to the wire.

Lincoln and Jimbo may be "proven" commodities and are rightly considered to be top candidates. That said, I think LSU would benefit from having a new, young(ish) coach with experience that's dedicated to building a program in the way that Campbell has done at ISU. I would also put Aranda in the same boat.

When I look at long-term potential for success, Aranda and Campbell beat out Lincoln and Jimbo.

- Jimbo is too old to be a long-term coaching prospect that can take LSU's talent and resources and build a long-term rival to Bama. And don't give me that "but but Saban's old" crap, he's an anomaly.

- I think Lincoln could have an immediate impact on recruiting and offense, but I worry about his defensive capabilities (and coaching in the "Defense-Optional" conference has done nothing to encourage his development in that area). More importantly, though, I think he has dreams of NFL stadiums that don't make him the good long-term prospect that LSU needs.

Just my two cents, and downvote away if you're feeling the itch, but I'd rather take on a younger coach with experience that is likely to build a long-term power at LSU.