LSU Has Narrowed Down Head Coach Search To Three Coaches

With Coach O being shown the door in Baton Rouge, some pretty big coaching names have been thrown around as possible suitors for the job. However, it looks as if LSU has settled on the top three coaches they want to lead the Bayou Bengals into battle.

Even though some of the huge names like Lincoln Riley, Jimbo Fisher, James Franklin, and Luke Fickell aren't on this list, the Tigers do still have three great coaches in their sights.

Get our free mobile app

Sports reporter Glen Guilbeau with Outkick.com is reporting that LSU Athletic Director Scott Woodward is looking hard at three candidates for the head football coaching vacancy.

LSU's Top 3 Coaches To Replace Coach O:

• Louisiana’s Billy Napier

Napier has made quite a name for himself after taking over the Ragin' Cajuns job. He's been sought after before by bigger universities and has turned down the offers. Billy has turned a losing team into a winner in a short order of time. The Cajuns are currently 10-1 for the season and 7-0 in conference. Another plus is that Napier comes from the Nick Saban coaching tree.

• Bayor's Dave Aranda

Dave Aranda is a very familiar name for the Tiger faithful. He was the defensive coordinator at LSU from 2016 -2019. Aranda had a rocky start a Baylor, but has since turned it around into good fortunes. The Bears are currently 9-2 on the season, 6-2 in conference, and ranked 11th in the nation.

Iowa State's Matt Campbell

Campbell is in his sixth season at Iowa State. He's a fiery and passionate coach. However, he hasn't seen the success of the previous two coaches. After four straight winning seasons at Toledo, Campbell has been very mediocre at best through most of his tenure for the Cyclones.

If I was a betting man, I would imagine Dave Aranda is LSU's number one choice. He has ties to the program, fans love him, and he's a family man. In fact, reporter Glen Guilbeau says that's one of the big factors that Scott Woodward is looking for.

Guilbeau wrote:

What Scott Woodward does like about Dave Aranda from what I’ve been told is that he’s squeaky clean as far as the investigations and the Title IX issues at LSU that’s what (LSU Athletics Director Scott) Woodward wants.

Napier is also rumored to being courted hard by Florida after they fired Dan Mullen. Guilbeau also said that there are some negative feelings in the Tiger Nation about the University of Lafayette:

If he (Napier) goes to Florida he doesn’t have to try and sell himself because he’s coming from U-L, LSU people, including people in the athletic department have this attitude about U-L, which I think is wrong.

Guilbeau says his sources are telling him that LSU will make the hire and announcement either by the end of this week or early next week.