re: What coaching hire would have LSU in a different spot?

I accepted the O hire after it was official and was willing to defend him. I even thought with solid coordinators and stability he would be successful. He bears the blame as the HC for the losses.

That being said there are deeper issues right now. LSU has 3-4 elite players on roster. Devin White is proving what a lot of us thought that he is a stud.

The other 3 are Guice, Key and Lawrence. Guice is not healthy regardless what anyone says. You can see he does not stick his foot in the ground and make the hard cuts he did last year. The announcers said as much Saturday. Lawrence can't stay healthy and Key is a shell of himself due to injury, shape and maybe even mentally (still don't know what his issue was this offseason).

We played 3 true freshmen on an OL that wasn't good to begin with. The WRs are not playing well. Bad routes, no separation and not giving the QB good targets.

Etling has heart, but is very limited. I was one of his biggest supporters, but it's hard not to see some of his issues.

The DL has at least 3 missing starters or rotation guys. Despite White playing out of his mind, he and Alexander (weak link) do not equal Beckwith/Riley.

No one is close to playing at the level of Jamal Adams at safety.

None of that excuses losing to Troy or how bad we played vs Miss St, but this team top to bottom is not as talented as last years team and it's not even close. White is the only legitimate player better than his predecessor.