Greg McElroy says notable insider believes Saban will return to coaching

#51
#51
Because he went 11-11 in the 2 seasons after winning it all and by most accounts completely took his foot off the gas after winning the title in 2019, plus hit on a booster's wife at a gas station.

If anything, the LSU admin kind of went easy on him. There was off-field turmoil at the time too related to the Derrius Guice allegations and other Title IX issues. They probably just didn't want all that aired publicly so they paid him the money to go away.
He didn't take his foot off the gas, he's a moron.
He went 11-11 because he lost Joe Brady on offense and Dave Aranda on defense and didn't know how to correctly replace them.
 
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#52
#52
Because he went 11-11 in the 2 seasons after winning it all and by most accounts completely took his foot off the gas after winning the title in 2019, plus hit on a booster's wife at a gas station.

If anything, the LSU admin kind of went easy on him. There was off-field turmoil at the time too related to the Derrius Guice allegations and other Title IX issues. They probably just didn't want all that aired publicly so they paid him the money to go away.
That explains that. Coach O was never a stable type of guy.

Hope he finds happiness in retirement.
 
#54
#54
He didn't take his foot off the gas, he's a moron.
He went 11-11 because he lost Joe Brady on offense and Dave Aranda on defense and didn't know how to correctly replace them.
He is a moron. He also stopped recruiting, brought the new girlfriend to practice a lot, etc.

He never was the sharpest tool in the shed (to put it mildly) but he was pretty widely known as a madman, tireless recruiter. He just quit after he won a title and got that big contract. If LSU didn't also have some scandals around the program at the time, they might have pursued firing him for cause.
 
#57
#57
He is a great coach. But no longer having a huge advantage in having the best players will definitely make him look human.
If you can afford to hire Nick Saban, you can afford to have a really good NIL program in place.

The combination of getting to play with Saban who has a track record of putting guys in the league AND a good, competitive NIL program would mean he still would get a lot of talent.

Saban ain't stupid. If he comes back to coaching he'll insist that he has ALL the NIL money he wants. He's not going to coach at Army or something.
 
#59
#59
He is a great coach. But no longer having a huge advantage in having the best players will definitely make him look human.
NIL is also spreading the top 100, 200 players around more now. No longer can he sign 7-10 5 stars & rest 4 star guys & stockpile future Heisman winners for a year or two. He knew that & got out.
 
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#60
#60
I read UF is a possible position for him. Maybe some homer fluffing their fans' nests for them, but that is just about the worst place Saban could go for the rest of the SEC. He would own the state of Florida's recruiting. Saban's dominance when recruiting his best LSU teams, would be even worse if he was in Florida.
 
#61
#61
He definitely didn't underachieve at Central Michigan and Notre Dame. I think he's without a doubt underachieved at LSU.

17-7 in SEC play in 3 years is not horrible, and he did make it to Atlanta in his first year, but LSU is a place where you can and are expected to compete for national titles pretty regularly. Les Miles and Coach O are bozos and have won national titles there (Les even played for another that he didn't win).

The defense in particular he hasn't figured out yet. They had a Heisman winning QB in 2023 and lost 3 games because they couldn't stop anybody. That was also the problem last year.
he back door'd his way into Atlanta. It was the first time in a long time the two best teams in the SEC were both in the East that year, Georgia and UT. we had smoked them at home, and it was clear to everyone that they were only there because of the divisions, not because they deserved it.

talking with LSU fans they think Brian Kelly got to get two wins in the playoffs to save his job. winning the SEC but a first game loss in the playoff won't cut it.

who knows, maybe he is this years Ryan Day.
 
#62
#62
he back door'd his way into Atlanta. It was the first time in a long time the two best teams in the SEC were both in the East that year, Georgia and UT. we had smoked them at home, and it was clear to everyone that they were only there because of the divisions, not because they deserved it.

talking with LSU fans they think Brian Kelly got to get two wins in the playoffs to save his job. winning the SEC but a first game loss in the playoff won't cut it.

who knows, maybe he is this years Ryan Day.
He did backdoor, but he had something of a retooling to complete at LSU (the roster wasn't in great shape by their standards when O left) so going 9-3 with a SECCG game appearance wasn't a bad first season. FSU and Tennessee ended up having good/great seasons, so the only bad loss of the 3 ended up being A&M. He hasn't been able to build on that season, and last year was actually his worst season of the 3 he's been there, so he's definitely facing pressure this year. They actually should have gone 7-5 last year.

I don't think he gets fired after this season unless they're even worse than last year. There's no way they'd fire him if he won the SEC and made the playoff. If he misses the CFP again though, I think he comes into 2026 in a "make a run in the playoff or be fired" situation.
 
#63
#63
He did backdoor, but he had something of a retooling to complete at LSU (the roster wasn't in great shape by their standards when O left) so going 9-3 with a SECCG game appearance wasn't a bad first season. FSU and Tennessee ended up having good/great seasons, so the only bad loss of the 3 ended up being A&M. He hasn't been able to build on that season, and last year was actually his worst season of the 3 he's been there, so he's definitely facing pressure this year. They actually should have gone 7-5 last year.

I don't think he gets fired after this season unless they're even worse than last year. There's no way they'd fire him if he won the SEC and made the playoff. If he misses the CFP again though, I think he comes into 2026 in a "make a run in the playoff or be fired" situation.
I think it comes down to how they lose. if there are tough losses, yeah probably keeps it. but the whole time he has been at LSU there have been in-game coaching decisions that are just weird and hurt the team. its impossible to say any one thing loses a game, but the coaching has been a negative recently.

Perkins is kinda a good example of this. he is more successful when they put him in a spot to get the QB/ball carrier. the more they try to coach him up the worse he looks. yeah there was a major injury, but he hasn't grown into any role like you would think a star player should.

OL will likely take a step back. QB play should be great, they seem to find great WRs like Heupel finds RBs. defense should be decent, but I doubt it can carry them. so I think the coaching aspect will be important and it looks to the fans like coaching is losing them games, then he is gone.

imo of course.
 
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#64
#64
he back door'd his way into Atlanta. It was the first time in a long time the two best teams in the SEC were both in the East that year, Georgia and UT. we had smoked them at home, and it was clear to everyone that they were only there because of the divisions, not because they deserved it.

talking with LSU fans they think Brian Kelly got to get two wins in the playoffs to save his job. winning the SEC but a first game loss in the playoff won't cut it.

who knows, maybe he is this years Ryan Day.
LSU spent a lot of money on their roster in the portal. Probably as much as anyone. They had a lot to fix too and the jury's still out on whether it will translate.
 
#65
#65
LSU spent a lot of money on their roster in the portal. Probably as much as anyone. They had a lot to fix too and the jury's still out on whether it will translate.
thats another reason why I think its make or break for Kelly. he has to show big improvement to keep his job.
 
#66
#66
thats another reason why I think its make or break for Kelly. he has to show big improvement to keep his job.
If memory serves, a large portion of his contract is guaranteed. I'm not sure how much, but it might make him a little more secure than it might seem on the surface.
 
#67
#67
If memory serves, a large portion of his contract is guaranteed. I'm not sure how much, but it might make him a little more secure than it might seem on the surface.
TAMU found a way to pay jimbo 75 million give or take didn't they?

LSU would owe around 51 million at the end of the season. LSU's pockets aren't as deep, but I would imagine they could pull something together. or just do the opposite and sandbag him from future NIL support.
 
#68
#68
TAMU found a way to pay jimbo 75 million give or take didn't they?

LSU would owe around 51 million at the end of the season. LSU's pockets aren't as deep, but I would imagine they could pull something together. or just do the opposite and sandbag him from future NIL support.
Yes, but Brian Kelly's results haven't exactly been what Jimbo Fisher's were at A&M. It would be harder to justify cutting that check. And all this is purely hypothetical. LSU has a good returning QB and added some pieces around him. We don't know what kind of season they might have.
 

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