Hey gents - from the looks of it I am not the only one obsessing over this board and unable to be productive at work. Found out some stuff just now that might be of high interest here and wanted to pass it along.

First off, yep, this is my first post under this account. I actually post quite a bit on TD (like 20k plus posts) but felt like I needed to create an alt to share this because I don't want to betray confidences and get my buddy in trouble. I've posted enough under my usual name that somebody could probably put the pieces together and figure out my source based on my post history and I didn't want to risk it. So you can choose to believe all this or not, lol.

Anyway...an old LSU roommate of mine is VERY close to the search process on the political side (he is not a name you would know but you would know his boss's name). We text pretty often about LSU stuff but I actually held off on contacting him yesterday as I was watching all the Kiffin drama play out on here because I didn't want to put him in a weird position if he wasn't able to tell me anything.

Like everybody else here I was pretty disappointed to see that things seemed to be moving away from Kiffin today so I finally texted my buddy a little while ago to see if that impression was correct.

Surprisingly, he told me basically that the smoke around Lane is VERY real and has only gotten stronger today. Summarizing highlights from a longer back and forth we had:

- He said nothing was close to being signed yesterday and nobody on the LSU side expected it to, but things are progressing quickly. There are some specific hurdles to be worked out re Lane's contract with OM but nobody on either side seems to think those would stop a deal.

- No issues with salary or NIL as far as LSU is concerned, and my buddy said the numbers in play are honestly shocking (he didn't want to say the exact amount because he's one of a handful of people who know the specifics at this point and doesn't want to be ID'd as a leaker).

- I asked him point blank - how close is this to being final and are we in the red zone. He said he'd put us on the 2, maybe the 1 yard line, and if it happens it will be announced in the next 24-48 hours. There is urgency on both sides to get this wrapped up while OM is still on their bye week.

- I also asked what happens if we don't seal the deal with Lane. He said there is a well developed short list (2-3 of the names everyone has seen and 1 that's kind of out of left field but made total sense to me when I saw it). All of those candidates have been contacted and have indicated strong interest so LSU folks feel they would be able to pivot pretty quickly if Lane falls through.

Hope that is of interest to some of you. Will update if I learn more that I can share.

UPDATE

A few response have asked for the specific names on the shortlist. What I heard is Dillingham, Brent Key, and possibly Drink but he seems less likely at this point. There is a strong desire for a young/hungry type coach vs someone more established this time around.

Sumrall, Brady, Riley - all not on the list for various reasons. LSU is also not even considering names like Lanning or Freeman because they know they can’t wait around with those guys likely in the playoffs.

The “out of left field” name I heard is Shannon Dawson, Miami OC. Has been very successful as a coordinator, strong coaching pedigree, Louisiana ties. Apparently comes strongly recommended by experienced HCs LSU has consulted with. They are aware that fans would melt over a hire like this and they’d need to sell it hard, but they also don’t expect to get that far down the list.

Again, just passing along what my buddy shared with me. Take it or leave it for what it’s worth.

This post was edited on 11/18/25 at 4:54 pm