It has been two days since LSU fired Brian Kelly, and the names linked to the program have stretched far and wide. The job in Baton Rouge moved quickly to the top of the list of current openings ahead of Penn State and Florida.
LSU will look to aim high for its next hire, but whether or not it’ll be able to pry a big-name coach away from his current position remains to be seen. One name that is going to get some attention is Tulance coach Jon Sumrall. He is a Group of 5 coach who is quickly making a name for himself. On Tuesday, he addressed his name being linked to the LSU opening.
Jon Sumrall Address LSU Rumors
As soon as Kelly was fired, Sumrall was listed by On3 as a candidate for the opening at LSU. Ahead of the Green Wave’s matchup with UTSA on Thursday night in San Antonio, Sumrall addressed the rumors and didn’t want to get too far into it.
“I’m grateful for it,” said Sumrall. “You got a job to do, you got to ask that question. I got a job to do, it’s to coach this football team. I’ve dealt with it every year as a head coach. I understand it comes with territory. I get those questions because we’re having success. That’s about our players. And the coaching carousel to me is not even a thought because we’re in the mid-season phase. So whatever somebody else wants to do, another program wants to do, what people want to speculate, they’re free to do that.”
Sumrall is 38-10 overall between Troy and Tulane as a head coach. He went 23-4 with the Trojans before going 15-6 with the Green Wave. His team will play the Road Runners at the Alamodome, where he made it clear his attention is.
“UTSA has my 100% focus,” Sumrall said. “Our team playing the best it can has my 100% focus. We haven’t played our best yet. I’m a little bit urgent and nauseous and fear of complacency because we haven’t played very good yet. And so whatever’s going out there in that world, that’s great for people to speculate. Just like you’ve got a job to do, you’ve got to ask that question. I’ve got a job to do. It’s to coach this football team.”
LSU Opening Will Be The First Domino To Fall
The coaching carousel is going to be wild this cycle, but the fun won’t start until December or January. Coaches who will take some of the prime jobs are still in the middle of the 2025 season with their current schools.
Sumrall is going to generate a lot of interest, regardless of what he said Tuesday. There are likely other jobs that will eventually open over the next month. Other names linked to LSU are Lane Kiffin of Ole Miss, Lincoln Riley of USC, former Penn State coach James Franklin, and others.
One name to watch from the Group of 5 schools is South Florida’s Alex Golesh, who many see as a Power Conference coach in waiting with the job he has done with the Bulls. He, too, has been linked to LSU. This is going to be a fascinating couple of months.
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