The Athletic ranks (again) college football’s 12 open coaching jobs

quote:

---

1. LSU
Record over the last five years: 40-21
The Athletic’s estimated valuation: $1.23 billion (10th among Power 4 programs)
Job grade: A

LSU is a top-five job in college football, maybe top-three. How can it not be when Les Miles and Ed Orgeron recently won national championships here? It has titles, tradition and unique local support. It has a hold of its talent-rich state like very few schools — one of the few remaining places where kids really do commit to the school and not the coach. LSU will always get almost all of the best kids in Louisiana because that’s the culture. After a few years of LSU falling behind in player spending, that changed this year, with an $18 million roster and the nation’s top-ranked transfer class. There’s a reason LSU was able to pull an unprecedented move of hiring a winning Notre Dame head coach four years ago.

But with all that comes the highest of bars. You have to compete for and win national championships here. Brian Kelly, a very successful coach otherwise, couldn’t do it. Was that because of Kelly’s personality, or was it because the flattening of the sport’s competitive structure has made it harder for all the top schools to win big? The school leadership and involvement of politicians also make for a bit more for a coach to navigate. Still, almost anyone could be an option here. LSU is that good of a job.

---