Why would Coach _________ leave school _______to come to LSU?

It seems this question pops up all the time. Let's look at basic facts to draw some conclusions.

In the last 25 years, no team has won a national championship with a Roster talent ranking outside of the Top 10, except Michigan in 2023 which was ranked 14th.

Let's just look at the last 10 Champions... (Source 247 Team Talent Composite) Year-Team-Roster Ranking

2024- OSU 3
2023- Mich 14
2022- GA 2
2021- GA 2
2020- Bama 2
2019- LSU 5
2018- Clem 6
2017- Bama 1
2016- Clem 9
2015- Bama 1

Mich was a big outlier.

Now, do a deep dive into the Team Talent Composite pre NIL and Post NIL. Does it make a difference?

I used Ai to look at how NIL and the transfer portal has impacted the Teams that fall into the Top 10. Has there been significant change with the changing landscape of NIL/Portal transfers?

The answer, for the most part, has been no, with Texas and Texas A&M being teams that are leveraging resources and have moved into the Top 10. Not much significant change to other teams if the goal is to win a national championship.

Now, let's look at LSU and where they have ranked in the talent composite.

2025- 6
2024- 8
2023- 7
2022- 8
2021- 5
2020- 6
2019- 5
2018- 7
2017- 6
2016- 3

Different coaches, some good teams, some really bad teams, and yet consistently in the Top 10 for talent.

Let's take a look at Ole Miss. They have not cracked the Top 20 in these rankings since 2017.

So, back to the question "Why would Coach _____leave school______to come to LSU? Insert Kiffin here, but you could do it for anyone.

Coaches know it takes Coaching + Talent to win a Championship. You can coach a team to play above its level for a game or maybe a stretch of games, but you are not taking a team with far less talent over the course of a seaon and winning a national championship.

The answer is simple, if a coach is driven to win a national championship and to become one of the great coaches of all time, they look at teams that consistently are able to build rosters that will allow them to win a championship. LSU fits that box year in an year out.