LSU dismissed Brian Kelly after last Saturday's disaster against Texas A&M. The bad news is that things have not gone particularly well over the past few years in Baton Rogue. The good news is that they are now courting candidates for one of the most prestigious and desired jobs in the sport.
After going with someone who had little SEC experience in Kelly and getting underwhelming results, The Ringer's Todd McShay believes the next hire will not be of the same cloth.
"The next hire will be 'one of them' if you will," he said on his latest podcast. "Someone who is ingrained in the Southeast portion of the country. Has an understanding of what is .. it's just college football down there, man."
McShay said that Nick Saban, Lane Kiffin, Dan Lanning and Joe Brady are names that he's hearing and taking seriously.
None is bigger than Saban, who seems happy in retirement after stepping away from Alabama two years ago. There has been a lot of speculation about the legendary coach returning to the sidelines ever since he traded in his headset for the headgear of College GameDay.
"LSU is going to make an offer to Nick and to Miss Terry that will force them to reconsider their justifiable stance—at this point in our lives working College GameDay, ESPN/ABC is where we belong," McShay predicted.
Saban previously coached the Tigers from 2000-'04, going 48-16 and winning the 2003 national championship. It would not be possible to say something that would get LSU fans more excited about the opportunities. And of course the university will poke around because who wouldn't want Saban and who else has a shared and productive history with him like this.
But Saban will turn 74 on Halloween. His retirement has stuck to this point. It would be a tremendous shock if he were to return.
Still, a respected voice with inside information going even this far is newsworthy.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Todd McShay Thinks LSU Could Get Nick Saban to Come Back to Coaching.