Bad Fit, Good Fit: Tulane Legend, Shaun King Weighs in On LSU Coaching Change

LSU shook up the college football world when they fired Coach Brian Kelly during the

season. The VIP Crew caught up with Tulane great, Shaun King to discuss LSU's decision to pivot down Kiffin's Lane, the pressures of coaching at the collegiate level in today’s climate, and much more!

The VIP Crew: You have a saying, when you’re right you’re right. So, I gotta give you

your props because from day one of LSU hiring Brian Kelly as their head football coach,

you told me it was a bad fit. Obviously, they recently fired him and going in a different

direction. Why did you feel he was such a bad fit?

King: Here’s the problem with college football, the power vacuum includes a lot of

prominent, successful, extremely wealthy businessmen. I’m talking your board of

trustees, I’m talking your donors that have names on buildings, I’m talking your select

group of the university that funds the NIL year in and year out. They are decision

makers. It’s not generally the athletic director. The athletic director is involved, but he’s

gotta get sign off. They’re using their money for influence. Here comes the problem,

because you are financially independent in one space, does not mean you’re an expert

in another. It’s a long-winded response, but I want to break it down for everybody who

sees this.

The Brian Kelly hire, who was the previous LSU coach, was it [Ed] Orgeron? Ed

Orgeron beloved, native, Louisiana man, sounds like a cajun. The only way to justify in

my opinion, getting rid of Orgeron initially, “Oh, we got the all-time winningest Notre

Dame coach at the time to leave Notre Dame, and come to the Bayou.” When, if an

actual football person was making the hire, they would understand that fit matters in

college football. Brian Kelly’s not a bad coach; he’s a bad fit for LSU. I wouldn’t be

surprised if Brian Kelly got the Penn State job or a job of that elk and had a lot of

success. Not then, not during, and not now, a fit for LSU. But they wanted to win the

press conference, so what could anybody say, no matter how much the salary was, “He

was the sitting head coach at Notre Dame.” And that’s all they were worried about.

Here is an example of what I’m talking about. When Clark Lea got announced as

Vanderbilt’s head coach, nobody cared, right? They weren’t worried about winning the

press conference, they were worried about hiring the right guy. To me that’s LSU’s

number one priority was winning the press conference and I’m almost willing to bet, that

was prioritized by a non-football guy.

The VIP Crew: With all that being said, you always felt Lane Kiffin would be a good fit

for LSU. Why is that?

King: To me the best possible candidate was Lane Kiffin. Coordinator at multiple SEC

schools, head coach at an SEC school, understands the southeast region. He’s not

from Louisiana, but has spent enough time in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida to be

able to make the subtle adjustments. He’s good looking, most women feel that way.

He’s able to relate to the younger player. I know he’s married, but trust me, when a head

coach walks in these homes with single mom’s, being attractive is not a bad thing when

you’re trying to win a recruiting battle. Not overall, but for Lane Kiffin, I thought the

University of Florida was actually the better job than LSU.

Ole Miss wasn’t a bad job, but it’s not an elite job in the conference he resides in. I think

that’s the problem he knew he would continuously run into at Ole Miss. Even when he

has a Jaxson Dart, Tre Harris, Quinshon Junkins who was there before he went to Ohio

State, they still a couple players short when Georgia, Alabama, LSU, and some of the

other top tier SEC schools are loaded, he’s still a couple of players short.

The VIP Crew: Explain these huge buyouts that these coaches are receiving to me.

King: The buyout is only paid out if the guy fired doesn’t take another head coaching

position. Let’s say, Brian Kelly would’ve taken the Penn State job, hypothetically, he

doesn’t get the max because he’s getting money from LSU. He’s getting $10-$11 a year

from LSU and LSU would pay the other $3 million per year. That would be the initial

offset. The only way LSU would be on the hook for all of it is if Brian Kelly does like Ed

Orgeron and says, I’m not even mad that I’m leaving out the back door, I’m Gucci

(laughing). Also, I’ve been told this, and I’m in the process of researching this, that there

is also some kind of insurance package that the endowments and athletic funds have to

cover them against portions of the buyout. I’m not an expert on that and I’m still

researching it, but it’s not a dollar-for-dollar number.

I will say this, as the NCAA wakes up and realizes they are antiquated, out of date, and

out of touch, they’ve lost sight of what should be priority number one, which is the

quality of experience for the student-athlete, as they reform NIL and transfer portal, I

think they should make it illegal to fire a sitting head coach without cause before the end

of the season.

The only reason LSU fired Brian Kelly when they did, is because Penn State, Florida,

and Arkansas had already become available. They wanted potential candidates to

know, okay, we’re open too. That sucks if you’re a senior in college football. Your last

year, because a lot of these guys don’t play professional football, your last year of

something you have given your entire life… you know how special your senior year was

when your coach been there, ya’ll have a special relationship, Senior Day meant

something, and mom and the fam is coming down, we did special things for the seniors

the last couple games of the year, all of that is eroded when college football allows the

financial politics to impact the experience of the student-athlete. Nothing would be

different if Penn State couldn’t fire James Franklin to the end of the year, and Arkansas

couldn’t fire Sam Pittman till the end of the year. Nothing would change at all.

The VIP Crew: College football is a different sport than the sport you played, that’s for

sure; especially from a coaching standpoint.

King: And it’s extremely stressful. Having to deal with NIL, the transfer portal, not being

able to have sustainability from a roster standpoint… the energy you gotta have now is

crazy. The way it used to work is, you go out, you recruit your butt off at high schools,

generally when kids become sophomores, you build that 2-year relationship with the

kids, you know the family. They get there, they understand the expectations. If they’re

not ready to play in year one, cool, they get a chance to go into the weight room. Year

two, maybe they are special teams, year three, they know the system, ready to

contribute, and now you’re building a program. But with this transfer portal, Percy, you

literally can wake up every December and have 6 or 7 of your starters that have

eligibility left, gone! Now, you’re out here haggling with a kid that wants $4-$500,000 a

year, when the film says he’s only worth $50,000 a year, but Ole Miss is willing to pay

him $300, and you don’t have nobody because your guy left to go to Ohio State.