Potential Replacements for LSU Head Coach Les Miles

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

Curious how bad the 2016 football season has started off for LSU head coach Les Miles after losing the season opener 16-14 to Wisconsin, members of the fan bases have started a GoFundMe page to raise $1 million towards his contract buyout. The movement has not really caught fire within the LSU congregation but the thoughts of thousands stand behind the actions of a few.

Miles was able to stave off the chopping block at the end of the 2015 season with the promise that he would change his ways on offense after a three-game losing streak against Alabama, Arkansas, and Ole Miss took LSU out of the college football playoff picture. The Tigers won their final regular season game topping Texas A&M 19-7 and then dismantled Texas Tech 56-27 in the Texas Bowl. The hope for a dominating future was there knowing All-American running back Leonard Fournette was back along with a total of 18 starters. All signs pointed to a national title contender, only if the Tigers could get solid quarterback play.

Jump to Saturday September 3, the Tigers, then ranked No. 5 in the nation, came out flat against the unranked Badgers with quarterback Brandon Harris looking like the 2015 version of himself in the pocket. The junior signal caller completed just 12 of 21 attempts for 131 yards with one touchdown and tossed two interceptions including the game clinching poorly thrown pass directly to Wisconsin safety D’Cota Dixon.

Some speculation had Miles keeping his job for at least one more season based on the buyout clause in his contract. Per his contract, his buyout if fired before Dec. 31, 2015, would be $15 million. The total drops to $12.9 million by the end of 2017 and to $8.6 million at the end of 2018. LSU alumni, boosters, and fans may not be willing to wait on a discount discharge bargain for Miles.

LSU can still turn the season around and win a SEC West title along with a SEC Championship and could still be in play for a college football playoff berth if everything falls their way. By falling their way the Tigers would have to go undefeated the rest of the season, Wisconsin would have to turn in a 9- or 10-win kind of season, and there could be no more than three undefeated teams coming out of the other four Power Five Conferences. The more other top teams lose in other conferences all the better for Miles and company.

The likelihood of everything falling into place at this point in the season, and after the way Alabama tore apart USC in their season opener, seems highly unlikely. Time for the all too soon list of potential head coaches who could take Miles place at the end of the season. Some are long shots with pure speculation while others have a little bit of merit and possibility.

The Unlikely Candidates… but Maybe

Bobby Petrino – Louisville head coach

Petrino is a motorcycle accident waiting to happen but he is a proven winner with SEC ties to Auburn and Arkansas. During the 2002 season he was the offensive coordinator at Auburn and from 2008-11 was the head coach for the Razorbacks. His last two seasons with the Hogs he won 10 and 11 games. Recruiting in the fertile Louisiana grounds would be great for any head coach at LSU but one Petrino would flourish in until his act wore out with the fans, boosters, and alumni.

If LSU fans really want an offensive minded coach, Petrino could be the guy.

Dan Mullen – Mississippi State head coach

Entering the 2016 season, Mullen had a win-loss total at 55-35 over seven years. Mullen keeps finding a way to win taking the Bulldogs to six consecutive bowl games after a 5-7 season in 2009. For nine years, the end of the Jackie Sherrill era through Sylvester Croom, Mississippi State was an afterthought, now MSU is a well-coached team no one wants to play.

Think what he could do at LSU!

Chip Kelly – San Francisco 49ers head coach

Kelly is another offensive genius that will be linked to every other college job until he starts winning at the NFL level. Kelly is in his first year with the 49ers. Unless everything falls apart quickly in San Francisco extremely doubtful that Kelly would head to Baton Rouge. If he did, great fit and great hire for LSU.

Bill O’Brien – Houston Texans head coach

Landing O’Brien is be pie in the sky thinking but could still be a possibility. The Texans have put together back-to-back 9-7 seasons with O’Brien leading the way. His work at Penn State in 2012-13 was nothing short of phenomenal after the Jerry Sandusky fallout. He posted a 15-9 record in two seasons under NCAA sanctions that had nothing to do with him. Despite no college coaching ties to the area, being in nearby Houston and coming from the NFL level would go a long way with recruits.

Geoff Collins – Florida defensive coordinator

Most schools go the opposite way of the head coach they got rid of thus Collins may not be a good fit but he is widely regarded as one of the top coordinators in the business. He has a lot of SEC experience beyond his two years at Florida starting with director of player personnel at Alabama (2007) and defensive coordinator at Mississippi State (2011-14).

So You’re Saying There’s a Chance

Mike Norvell – Memphis head coach

Norvell is young and experienced. This maybe his first year as the head coach at Memphis but he has been on staffs at Tulsa, Pitt, and was the offensive coordinator at Arizona State from 2012-15. He is originally from Arkansas thus is familiar with the SEC ways. The move to Norvell maybe too soon but if he has an outstanding season at Memphis, he could be a candidate for an interview.

Doug Meacham – TCU offensive coordinator

Meacham has been around the proverbial block but is finally getting his due with the Horned Frogs. Meacham cut his teeth at smaller programs like Jacksonville State (1997-99), Henderson State (1999-00), and Samford before becoming the receivers coach at Oklahoma State (2205-12). He was with Houston as the OC in 2013 and then hired as co-offensive coordinator at TCU in 2014. The Horned Frogs have been dynamic on offense; that could be appealing to the LSU brass.

Larry Fedora – North Carolina head coach

Fedora is another former SEC guy who worked his way up with the Gators in the early 2000’s. He was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State from 2005-07 before landing the Southern Miss head coaching job. In four seasons with Southern Miss he never had a losing season going 2-2 in bowl games building the program up to a 12-win squad in 2011. He has turned around the North Carolina program winning 11 games in 2015.

Fedora has a pretty easy draw in the Coastal division of the ACC missing out on Florida State and Clemson every year. No need for him to leave Chapel Hill but he could be a big possibility.

Mike Gundy – Oklahoma State head coach

Gundy is an Oklahoma State guy through and through but he might be at a stagnant point in his career with the Cowboys. He has been mentioned with the Arkansas and Tennessee openings in the past. Gundy has six seasons of nine or more wins, four of 10 or more, in a soft Big 12 Conference. OSU is second fiddle to Oklahoma and other Texas schools on the recruiting trail. Being a top dog on the trail coming out of Baton Rouge might be a big draw for an offensive minded coach with a proven track record.

Tom Herman – Houston head coach

Herman is atop every athletic director’s list as a possible head coaching hire. There will be a bidding war for his services should he decide to leave Houston at the end of the 2016 season. In one quick season he made the Cougars into a giant slayer taking out Florida State 38-24 in the 2015 Peach Bowl. His opening weekend win against No. 3 ranked Oklahoma sealed the deal of any doubters about his abilities as a head coach.

Herman could be in the running for the Texas, Baylor, and Texas A&M jobs as well depending on how the respective seasons play out.

The Big Surprise Candidate

Lane Kiffin – Alabama offensive coordinator

Who is ready for a USC Trojans reunion party in Baton Rouge? Lane Kiffin has resurrected his career in Tuscaloosa, at LSU’s expense, and could now be in line to take over for the team he keeps beating. Kiffin is a proven offensive coordinator but is still an unproven head coach. He might say all the right things, have the knowledge needed for the job, and be a top notch recruiter but he is the same guy who got fired five games into the 2013 season from a top program… or has he learned from the best in the business over his last three seasons under Nick Saban?

The USC block party in Louisiana could include another former USC head coach, Steve Sarkisian – the offensive coordinator, and another interim USC head coach, Ed Orgeron, LSU’s current defensive line coach. Sarkisian is now on Alabama’s staff reuniting the former Pete Carrol staffers. Orgeron could be a candidate in his own right but could also be in line to take over as the Tigers defensive coordinator if Dave Aranda is not retained. There is no way Cam Cameron will be a holdover from the Miles era.

There are a lot of other potential candidates who could work their way into contention based on how the 2016 season plays out. For now, this is a best guess at some of the coaches who could be on athletic director Joe Alleva’s short list. If Alleva looks in his backyard, another coach building his resume just down the road with a name and a winning pedigree from non-traditional programs is Skip Holtz, but that does not seem like a sexy hire.

Photo credit: houstonchronicle.com; Houston Cougars head coach Tom Herman