LSU football coaching search: Top candidates to replace Ed Orgeron

LSU will have a new football coach next season after negotiating a separation agreement with Ed Orgeron. 

Orgeron went 49-17 in six seasons. His overall record was 65-44 in 10 seasons at LSU, Southern cal and Ole Miss.

LSU athletics director Scott Woodward built a reputation for hiring big-name coaches in previous stops at Texas A&M and Washington. He lured Jimbo Fisher to Texas A&M away from Florida State and talked Chris Petersen into leaving Boise State for Washington.

At LSU, Woodward was able to hire women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey, a three-time national champion, from Baylor and baseball coach Jay Johnson from Arizona.

Woodward’s friendship with Fisher dates back to their time at LSU in the early 2000s. Fisher's massive contract extension will make him tough to attain, but coaches are constantly looking to leverage their success into improvements at their current jobs or new destinations.

Here are the candidates to watch as the search begins.

Jimbo Fisher

Current/last job: Texas A&M coach (2018-present)

Pros: Texas A&M is 30-12 under Fisher, coming off fourth-place finish in the national rankings and an Orange Bowl victory. The Aggies upset No. 1 Alabama on Oct. 9, making Fisher the first Nick Saban protégé to beat their former boss. At Florida State, Fisher went 83-23 in eight seasons. The Seminoles won the 2013 national championship and Fisher developed Jameis Winston into a Heisman Trophy winner. He was the offensive coordinator on LSU’s 2003 national title team and spent seven seasons in Baton Rouge under Saban and Les Miles.

Cons: Fisher agreed to a four-year extension in September, raising his salary to $9 million per year. Texas A&M has acquiesced to all his wants and desires. LSU would have to do the same regardless of Fisher’s relationship with Woodward. While Fisher did win a national title, Florida State began to decline in the latter part of his tenure. Fisher won’t come cheap, but his contract is fully guaranteed and includes no buyout, meaning he could leave without any financial penalty.

James Franklin

Current/last job: Penn State coach (2014-present)

Pros: Penn State is the only team other than Ohio State to win the Big Ten over the past six seasons. Franklin, whose record is 65-29 in eight years, has blended schematic innovation and high-level recruiting in Happy Valley. He did the impossible in his first stint in the SEC, coaching Vanderbilt to back-to-back 9-4 seasons. It remains to be seen whether Penn State is capable of catching Ohio State in the Big Ten. While LSU is in a similar situation with Alabama, it has been proven you can rise to that level and compete on the national scene in Baton Rouge.

Cons: LSU will have to cough up some serious cash to get Franklin, who makes $7 million per year. Speculation that Franklin’s relationship with Penn State had soured has quieted with the Nittany Lions starting 5-1 this season. Penn State finished a disappointing 4-5 in 2020. At Vanderbilt, four of Franklin’s players were charged with raping a female student. The case led to three convictions and Franklin, who told the team he had seen the video of the rape, admitted under oath that he had not seen the video.  

Luke Fickell

Current/last job: Cincinnati coach (2017-present)

Pros: Fickell has built the premier Group of Five program at Cincinnati. The Bearcats are 40-14 under Fickell with wins over Notre Dame, UCLA and a close call against Georgia in the 2020 Peach Bowl. The former Ohio State defensive coordinator was part of two national championship teams in Columbus. Fickell served as interim coach after Jim Tressel was fired prior to the 2011 season. He was retained by Urban Meyer and earned a reputation as a strong recruiter and X’s and O’s tactician.

Cons: While far from a deal-breaker, Fickell must adapt his approach to fit LSU and the SEC. Most of his recruiting success at Cincinnati has been with Ohio-based talent. Fickell, who turned down the Michigan State job in 2020, has been pegged as a candidate at Notre Dame and Ohio State should those jobs open. He might prefer to stay at Cincinnati than take a chance in an unfamiliar part of the country.

Matt Campbell

Current/last job: Iowa State coach (2016-present)

Pros: Campbell has led a football renaissance at a perennial have-not. Campbell’s record is 38-30 at Iowa State. The Cyclones won their first-ever Big 12 title in 2020 and defeated Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl. Iowa State has a reputation for winning close games under Campbell. Success in the margins is a selling point for any coach in the SEC, where the competition is fierce week to week. Campbell drew interest from the New York Jets and Detroit Lions in the offseason.

Cons: It’s important to put Campbell’s record in context. Iowa State is by no means a football power, but despite the realities of coaching in Ames, the body of work could still be a tough sell at LSU. The expectations in recruiting are way different at Iowa State and LSU. Campbell’s new contract at Iowa State includes a $9.4 million buyout.

Billy Napier

Current/last job: Louisiana-Lafayette coach (2018-present)

Pros: Napier apprenticed under college football’s two best coaches, Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney, and applied those lessons to his own program. The Ragin’ Cajuns are 33-12 in Napier’s four seasons and have won three consecutive Sun Belt West division titles. Napier has made the Cajuns a destination spot for in-state recruits that LSU passes on. His relationships with high school coaches are strong and he’ll have little program winning the recruiting battles LSU expects.

Cons: Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State and Ole Miss were unable to pry Napier away from Lafayette in the past two hiring cycles. Napier also spoke with South Carolina during the offseason. None of those jobs offer the same cache at LSU, so it could be the opening Napier is waiting on. Politics could interfere with this hire. LSU views the Cajuns as an in-state little brother, which could make Napier a nonstarter for certain factions in Baton Rouge.

Mario Cristobal

Current/last job: Oregon coach (2017-present)

Pros: Cristobal’s head-coaching experience and recruiting prowess are appealing. He returned Oregon to the top of the Pac-12 by signing top-notch talent at the line of scrimmage — a rarity for West Coast schools. Cristobal has been part of elite programs as a player and an assistant coach. He played on two-national championship teams at Miami and was part of Alabama’s 2015 national title as offensive line coach.

Cons: Oregon signed Cristobal to a six-year, $27.3 million extension when Auburn came calling last season. Cristobal, a relentless recruiter, would need to hire assistants who fit that mold, which means he must be willing to leave some staffers behind at Oregon.

Lane Kiffin

Current/last job: Ole Miss coach (2020-present)

Pros: A trip through the Nick Saban rehabilitation program worked wonders for Kiffin. He reinvented himself at Florida Atlantic, where he went 26-13 in three seasons and revamped his pro-style offense into an up-tempo, spread attack. Since his arrival in Oxford, Kiffin has transformed Ole Miss into one of the highest-scoring teams in the country. Kiffin understands the expectations at a program like LSU, having been the head coach at USC and Tennessee.

Cons: While entertaining on the field and social media, Kiffin has yet to accomplish anything notable at Ole Miss. He only reached 10 wins once at USC, though the program was recovering from NCAA sanctions, and his overall record with the Trojans and at Tennessee is just 35-21. USC famously fired Kiffin at the airport following a loss to Arizona State. His abrupt exit from Tennessee after one season caused an on-campus riot and Saban abruptly parted ways with him for being a distraction during Alabama’s run to a national runner-up finish in 2017.   

Mel Tucker

Current/last job: Michigan State coach

Pros: Tucker has the Spartans trending upward in his second season. Michigan State is 7-0 behind a dynamic offense averaging 34.3 points per game. Tucker spent one season at LSU under Nick Saban in 2000. He reunited with Saban at Alabama (2015) and was Kirby Smart's first defensive coordinator at Georgia (2016-18). Tucker was part of national championship staffs at Alabama and Ohio State (2002), and has a decade of NFL coaching experience. 

Cons: Tucker's buyout at Michigan State is $6 million. His messy exit from Colorado, where he was the coach in2019, could make him leery of another move. Tucker left Colorado for Michigan State in Feb. 2020, very late in the hiring cycle. While the Spartans are on the rise, Tucker's overall record as a head coach is just 14-12. 

Joe Brady

Current/last job: Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator (2020-present)

Pros: Brady helped orchestrate an offensive juggernaut as LSU’s passing game coordinator. He brought the run-pass option and vertical passing schemes that were the catalyst to the 2019 national championship. Joe Burrow won the Heisman Trophy, Ja’Marr Chase received the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver and the offensive line was honored with the Joe Moore Award.

Cons: Many believe Brady prefers the NFL life to college coaching. Prior to LSU, Brady was an offensive assistant for the New Orleans Saints from 2017-18. There could be some lingering acrimony toward Brady from LSU brass. Brady accepted a pay raise and extension from LSU, then reportedly didn’t tell Orgeron he was leaving to join the Panthers.

Dave Aranda

Current/last job: Baylor head coach (2020-present)

Pros: LSU hasn’t been the same defensively since Aranda left for Baylor. He combined top-end talent with versatile schemes and in-game adjustments to make the Tigers an elite unit during his tenure. Baylor is 6-1 this season with a win over Iowa State. As LSU’s defensive coordinator from 2016-19, Aranda understands the inner workings of the program and its power players.

Cons: Despite this year’s turnaround, Aranda’s 8-8  record won’t excite the fanbase. He’s already on his second offensive coordinator. Sound familiar? At a program where offensive handwringing has become tradition, LSU might be hesitant to hire a defensive-minded coach. Even one as accomplished as Aranda.

Bill O’Brien

Current/last job: Alabama offensive coordinator (2021-present)

Pros: O’Brien has both college and NFL head-coaching experience. He guided Penn State through NCAA sanctions following the Jerry Sandusky scandal, leaving Happy Valley with 15-9 record in two seasons. O’Brien went 52-48 during seven seasons coaching the Houston Texans.

Cons: Lampooned for personnel and in-game decisions, O’Brien was fired in Houston after an 0-4 start in 2020. He was criticized for not getting the most out of Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. O’Brien’s work with Christian Hackenberg at Penn State is notable, considering how Hackenberg struggled under James Franklin. It’s fair to wonder if O’Brien is dynamic enough to recruit at the level expected at LSU.

Adam Hunsucker covers LSU for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at ahunsucker@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @adam_hunsucker. Enjoy Adam’s work?  Consider a digital subscription for unlimited access.