Bookies.com has Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin as the betting favorite to be the next head coach of the LSU Tigers. Kiffin’s odds are at +375 or 21%.
Lead writer for Bookies.com, Christopher Boan, says Kiffin has the seventh ranked Rebels in position to make the College Football Playoffs, but he could build a consistent winner in Baton Rouge.
“How do you say no to a program like LSU, one of true college football powers in the last 25 years,” Boan said.
At his weekly press conference with reporters in Oxford, Mississippi, Kiffin was asked for his reaction to Kelly’s firing. ‘
"I feel like the college coaches now are more like NFL coaches where the firings happen quicker," Kiffin said. "NFL coaches, you see all the time, they get one, two years, and you're like, in college that doesn't happen... that's obviously not the case now."
Kiffin said Texas A&M’s dramatic turnaround since firing Jimbo Fisher in 2023 and paying his 77-million-dollar buyout has other schools believing that will work for them too.
"Anytime something works, other people go, 'well, let's go do that,'" Kiffin said. "It now has places accepting to pay these buyouts, which I think is ridiculous."
Kiffin might not be interested in leaving Oxford.
It is possible LSU will look for its next head coach in New Orleans. Bookies.com gives it a 10% chance that Tulane coach Jon Sumrall could be the next head coach of the Tigers.
“Jon Sumrall is a baller, he’s a great coach, he did wonders at Troy, he’s doing wonders at Tulane, he seems to live and breathe that Louisiana mindset, he’s a dog,” Boan said.
Sumrall went 23-4 and won two Sun Belt Championships at Troy. He has the Green Wave in the mix for winning an American Conference Championship and a berth into the College Football Playoff this season.
Boan says if LSU is looking at hiring a coach at another Power Four school, Jeff Brohm at Louisville (+550) and Kenny Dillingham (+650) are possibilities.
“The alure of going to LSU is going to be hard for these guys to resist, if you’re coaching your alma mater like Jeff Brohm is, even if coaching a school you went to in Kenny Dillingham’s case,” Boan said.
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Dillingham is 35 years old and a 2013 graduate of Arizona State.
The Sun Devils were picked by the media to finish last in the Big 12, but ended up winning the conference and earning a berth into the College Football Playoffs.
Brohm has Louisville ranked 16th in the country as the Cardinals are 6-1.
This is Brohm’s 12th year as a head coach. He is 91-53. He had successful stints at Western Kentucky and Purdue and he is 25-9 in three seasons at Louisville.
Former LSU players like Breiden Fehoko and Saints defensive tackle Davon Godchaux have said former Tigers linebacker and Lions Defensive Coordinator Kelvin Sheppard as a candidate.