VegasTiger7

Leaving BR with an ankle bone bruise and coming back with a pulled groin! :cheers:

I realize how crazy that is to hear, but it's the reality right now. Of course everyone still in that building is going to give their all to win every remaining game, but it's a simple fact that winning games doesn't matter at this point.

ALSO, let's take a look at some stats.

MVB in 10 games last year at Miss St: 54.7% completion percentage, 1886 yards, 11 TDs, and 7 INTs with a great offensive coach in Lebby calling plays.

Nuss through 8 games this year: 65.9% completion, 1806 yards, 12 TDs, and 5 INTs with Sloan who just got fired.

But yes, continue to tell me MVB is the best option.

Winning games is in fact not the first priority. What does winning games do for the program other than making fans feel good? You're not competing for a championship. You have no head coach and major change is coming. Winning games doesn't give you anything to build on next year.

Do I want LSU to win every game the rest of the year? Of course! I'll say again that Nuss gives you the best shot to do that. But this is a lost season, and winning does absolutely nothing to move the program forward. Do right by the guys that have done right by you.

2 things:

1. Nuss has not been the problem with this team. The guy is responsible for the 2nd best passing season in LSU history, and players do not just randomly "regress" like you're indicating. You don't just forget how to throw a 10 yard out or read a defense. The issue has been awful o-line play and a refusal to game plan around that reality. Whoever is calling plays next would be smart to do what Sloan couldn't/wouldn't. Also, completing a few passes in garbage time against an FCS team and A&M's backups doesn't give me faith that MVB is the future. Nuss is objectively the most talented QB on the roster and gives you the best chance to win.

2. With Kelly gone, the season is now lost. You're not going to the playoff, and whatever bowl game you'll go to is almost completely meaningless. The most important thing now is developing young guys while also doing right by the veterans and letting them put out good tape for the draft. Benching Nuss would be the ultimate slap in the face to a guy that has sacrificed so much for the program. Rode the bench for 3 years and waiting for his turn rather than transferring and being a starter, and then passed up on millions in last year's draft for a chance to come back and win a championship. Didn't work out that way, but you owe it to him to stick with him.

News just broke so now it's time to turn the page. This is the most attractive job available in this cycle, so you'll presumably have your pick of who's available. The advantage here is the dirt. No state pumps out more NFL talent per capita than Louisiana, so if you can lock down the state and go grab a couple big time recruits from around the country you'll always have plenty of talent.

However, it's not the perfect job. It remains to be seen if the next coach will have real NIL support. Boosters just ponied up $20M for this roster and look how that turned out. Not to mention the checks they'll have to write for coaches. Another thing to think about is the fanbase. When it's going good, there's no better place to be head coach. However, look at how this place chewed up and spit Kelly out in under 4 years. That will turn some coaches off.

With all that said, what are the best, most realistic candidates?

Personally, I'm done with going after the big fish. My vote would be a young, hungry option that has done it at a lower level or at the coordinator level that is ready for a jump up in quality. Some exceptions to this are Kiffin and Lanning. I think Kiffin is content to stay in Oxford because of that program's low expectations and the lifestyle there. Conversely, I would be shocked if Lanning decided to walk away from the pile of Nike money.

Rhett Lashlee, like Lanning, is a very interesting option but may not want to walk away from the immense NIL budget. My personal front runner would be John Sumrall. Already in state and has completely revived Tulane. Has relationships with HS coaches already and seems to "get" Louisiana.

Long read but MAN I am jacked up. Very exciting times. Lol

2021 was Coach O's last year, so the program as a whole was a disaster, and 2023 was House's fault. Put up 49 points and lost.

Chambliss and Simmons are similar players, so even if they use both we should be prepared. Not like last year against aTm where we were prepared for a pocket passer and got surprised by a runner.

Every book I've seen has Ole Miss -1.5 and almost every national pundit is picking Ole Miss. I know we're all biased on here, but I just can't objectively figure out why Ole Miss is the hot pick.

On defense, Baker is going to throw things at Chambliss that he's never seen on the football field. He's going from high school geometry at D2 directly into multi-variable calculus against this Blake Baker defense. Perkins is impossible to gameplan for because of how many different ways he lines up and how many roles they have him in. Not to mention the ELITE secondary, both Weeks brothers, and a veteran D-line.

On offense, yes we need to play better. Running game needs to show improvement and we can't regress into needing Nuss to throw it 50 times a game to have a shot. But last week showed that it was possible. I know, SELU, but still. I think now that Nuss is healthy, they'll open up the playbook and really unleash this offense.

Finally, home field advantage is real, especially in the SEC, but let's not pretend Vaught is among the elite places to play. This team marched into Clemson while they still believed and cared and passed that test in a tough environment.

Being as objective as I can, I see this being a low scoring game where the defense smothers them and the offense gets the job done. Something like a 24-10 or 28-14. But then again maybe I'm just an optimistic homer.