By Hunt Palmer
Plenty of variables surround LSU’s search for its next head coach.
Interim Athletic Director Verge Ausberry said Nick Saban’s candidacy is not one to consider.
“Nick Saban and I have a standing conversation probably every two to three weeks,” Ausberry told Matt Moscona. “We’re good friends, first of all, and a person I admire a lot. Coach Saban was joking. No way he’s coming back to football. Miss Terry (Saban) is not going to let him. So, that’s not going to happen. Let’s get that out of the way. If he was, and he was interested, I’d drive up there right now and pick him up.”
Ausberry announced Friday that he had formed a committee to choose LSU’s coach that included Board of Supervisors members Scott Ballard and John Carmouche, Bollinger Shipyards CEO Ben Bordelon, FMOL President and CEO EJ Kuiper and one member to be named. On Tuesday, LSU announced Wade Rousse as its new president, and he will join the committee.
As he told Moscona, Ausberry is working the phones constantly taking calls from agents and gathering information on potential candidates. Those candidates do not have to have head coaching experience.
“In, our process, we’re wide open,” Ausberry said. “We would like someone to have head coaching experience. Even if he’s not a head coach now, have the experience. LSU is a hard job…it’s something about managing people. You manage over 140 people in that building being the head coach at LSU, not including all the players, 135 players. So, you’re running a mini-organization.”
The timing of the is important and complex. High schoolers can begin to sign with colleges on December 3, and the transfer portal opens January 2. The College Football Playoff spans from December 19 through January 20.
“We don’t have an actual timeline,” Ausberry said. “We are aware of those dates. December 3rd is the signing date. I think Frank Wilson has done a great job of holding this together and putting us in the right position. We haven’t lost any kid on our team yet, talking about getting in the portal or transferring. And, we haven’t lost any recruits yet from one of the top recruiting classes. Hopefully around that time (December 3) we know what kind of direction we’re going and who we have.”
In a coaching transition, the transfer portal can be extremely important to the next roster being that many current players could decide to look elsewhere. At LSU, as many as 16 of 22 starters could be moving on due to eligibility exhaustion or NFL Draft prospects.
Ausberry is conscientious of that.
“That’s things that we’re staying focused on and playing a lot of attention to,” he said. “That will play a part in this coaching hire.”
More LSU Sports
