The talk about LSU in Jacob Phillips' thread reminded me of a conversation I had Saturday with an LSU buddy of mine that's fairly plugged in down there. (Sorry if this has been talked about elsewhere)
He said it was no coincidence that Art Briles made his generic apology, out of the blue, last week. Herman is LSU's #1 choice, but Briles is #2. Not surprising to most of us on IE, LSU would have no qualms with hiring Briles, baggage and all. LSU learned a valuable lesson last year in placing all of their bags in the Jimbo Fisher basket. He turned them down and they had no alternative. This time around, they are going after Herman, and have an alternative in Briles as well. (I'd guess they probably have identified one or 2 others as well, but not sure who). He said Miles is all but done, as he'd have to probably win out to keep his job. With games against alabama, florida, ole miss, auburn, a&m, and arkansas, that vey likely ain't happening.
These 2 coaches make sense to me as LSU can hire just about anybody and still keep much of their in-state talent, but the added bonus with the Herman and Briles is they can also get guys out of nearby, fertile East Texas. Could be scary. Also, when teams fire coaches, they usually try and make true changes- i.e., hire a guy with a different philosophy/scheme. In this case, they'd be getting coaches who can truly coach offense instead of a guy whose offense still operates (and executes) like a 1992 high school freshman team.
We shall see.