NFL Legend Believes LSU Football Must Hire This Former Head Coach After Brian Kelly

The LSU Tigers are set to navigate a national coaching search after parting ways with Brian Kelly following the program's Week 9 loss to the Texas A&M Aggies.

It's been an eventful seven-day stretch for the LSU program after relieving both Kelly and athletics director Scott Woodward of their duties.

Now, it's interim athletics director Verge Ausberry leading the charge to hire the program's next head coach after being given full authority last week.

"We're going to hire the best football coach there is," Ausberry said on Friday. "That's our job. We are not going to let this program fail. LSU has to be in the playoffs every year in football. There's 12 teams that make it.

"It's going to expand here. We have to be one of those teams at LSU. No substitute."

Now, the candidates are rolling in left and right with national analysts throwing names in the hat - including Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin, Tulane's Jon Sumrall, and Georgia Tech's Brent Key, among several others.

But NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre believes a former NFL head coach deserves a chance to lead an SEC program in 2026.

"I mentioned this several weeks ago in regard to Arkansas, but I mentioned a great fit would be Jon Gruden. I think Jon Gruden would be a great fit for any SEC school, especially the ones that had money to make a splash," Favre said.

"Unbelievable coach, he's a young 60, full of pi** and vinegar, eats, drinks, sleeps football. I think we all can agree to that. I would love to see him in the SEC.

"Is it something that LSU wants to pursue or Auburn, Arkansas, Florida? That remains to be seen, but I think he'd be a great fit."

Gruden is a name that has circulated for the double-digit job openings, and as the carousel heats up this fall, will be a fun one to monitor among programs if given an opportunity.

For the LSU Tigers, the program will be led by interim head coach Frank Wilson for the final four games of the 2025 season with Alabama up next in Week 11.

“For the team, here we are in this moment. We live in real time. We live in this moment. And so we have a responsibility to ourselves, have a responsibility to the man that’s next to you, to be a great teammate, to individually continue to develop yourself to be the best version of you,” Wilson said.

More LSU News:

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Five Players LSU Football Must Keep After Brian Kelly's Firing, Including DJ Pickett

ESPN Insider Labels Lane Kiffin 'Top Target' for LSU Football, Florida Gators

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