LSU football is of utmost importance in Louisiana and the state of the program has plenty of people talking about who the next head football coach will be. After the firing of Brian Kelly, a national hunt has been implemented for the coach who will lead the LSU football program into the future. While many commentators and fans have pushed for LSU to hire the coach who best “fits” the culture of the school, Tiger Rag’s Glenn Guilbeau says that’s the wrong approach to the hiring process.
Ultimately, Guilbeau says the right coach will mold the LSU football program in his own image and winning is the most important component to getting the fanbase excited. The work and atmosphere behind those wins ultimately becomes the LSU culture, he went on to explain. “The word ‘fit’ should not be used when you talk about coaches,” Guilbeau emphasized. “Really, Nick Saban didn’t fit at LSU but he made LSU fit to him. Saban changed the fanbase and the school to fit to him. But, he won and changed things. Brian Kelly came in and had a certain way of doing things, which was fine. The main reason Kelly got fired is because he didn’t win,” Guilbeau went on to note.
While “the proper fit” is an easy go-to talking point when trying to analyze what LSU needs to restore the glory days of the football program, that term is quite malleable according to Guilbeau and it goes both ways. “LSU has had plenty of coaches that ‘fit’ on paper when they arrived like former players Jerry Stovall and Ed Orgeron. They were good for a while and then they got fired. So, "fit" doesn’t matter. It’s whether they win or not,” added Guilbeau.