The college football coaching carousel is ramping up early this year. After LSU fired Brian Kelly following a 49-25 home loss to Texas A&M, the list of possible replacements has been stacking up.
ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum believes there is one "home run" hire for the Tigers and they don't have to look far. He named Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin as a name to watch during Monday's Get Up. This is now the second time Finebaum has called Kiffin a perfect fit, but says this time is different.
"It's a close call, but in my mind, LSU is a better job," Finebaum said. "It just has a great infrastructure down there. As I say that, I realize they fired the last three or four coaches, but I think Lane Kiffin fits that culture pretty well. He's familiar with it. He's also familiar with Florida, as we said last week. But I don't think there's any question that of the jobs opening, LSU is going to be the one that everybody wants."
For Kiffin, it's not about money and comes down to what's the best place for his future.
"I have never made a decision based off money, nor will I", Kiffin said on The Pat McAfee Show. "I've seen too many examples in life where money does not buy happiness. So I'm never going to make a decision off of money, nor do I care about it. Jimmy Sexton (his agent) gets really mad when I say that."
So, where does this put Kiffin's thought process in the matter? He's building out a great program at Ole Miss and anywhere he goes will be a repeat to get where he's at today. But LSU has more resources and is arguably a bigger job. The Rebels' 7-1 start has fueled the fire for Kiffin to jump, especially given the fact he has finished inside the top 15 in three of the last four seasons and remains in College Football Playoff contention going into Week 10.
"Lane Kiffin would be ideal (at LSU)," Finebaum said. "He's got all the requisite experience to succeed in the SEC."
The seventh-ranked Rebels host South Carolina on Saturday night (7 p.m., ESPN).