LSU Football Next Head Coach Odds: New Favorites Emerging for Tigers Job Opening

The LSU Tigers continue searching for the program's next shot-caller, odds shifting by the day.

LSU head coach Brian Kelly and Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin shake hands after a college football game between Ole Miss and LSU at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025. Ole Miss defeated LSU 24-19. | Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The LSU Tigers remain in headlines this month as the program begins ramping up its efforts in search of a new decision-maker following the firing of Brian Kelly on Oct. 26.

Following a 5-3 start to the 2025 season, the LSU administration pulled the trigger and parted ways with Kelly after nearly four seasons at the helm.

But the chaos in Baton Rouge didn't stop there with the university then relieving athletics director Scott Woodward of his duties just days later with the reset button being pushed amid a coaching search.

Since then, LSU has hired a new university president while elevating Verge Ausberry to a full-time athletics director role with the coaching search set to ramp up with a committee in place to make the decision.

• Scott Ballard: Chairman of the board
• John Carmouche: Chairman of athletics
• Ben Bordelon: Former LSU football player and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards
• E.J. Kleeper, CEO of Our Lady of the Lake
• Verge Ausberry: Interim Athletic Director

Courtesy of LSU Tigers Football.

“Our next chapter is to hire a football coach,” Ausberry said. “Hire the best football coach there is. That’s our jobs. We’ll go out there, and 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 at LSU. No substitute.”

Now, according to BetOnline, there are new betting favorites emerging in LSU's search for a new head coach.

LSU Tigers Next Head Coach Odds:

1. Joe Brady (+300)
2. Lane Kiffin (+375)
3. Nick Saban (+400)
4. Clark Lea (+500)
5. Jon Sumrall (+700)

Other names included in the Top-10 are former Penn State head coach James Franklin, Georgia Tech's Brent Key, and former Texas A&M shot-caller Jimbo Fisher.

Courtesy of LSU Tigers Football.

Of the candidates in the top-five, LSU has ruled out Nick Saban amid the rumor mill swirling with athletics director shutting down social media with a comment on Tuesday.

“No way he’s coming back to football. That’s not gonna happen. I think that has run its course,” Ausberry said.

Saban's colleauge on ESPN's College GameDay, Kirk Herbstreit, also silenced the rumor mill on Tuesday.

“You couldn’t pull Nick Saban off the GameDay desk. ‘Coach, maybe this job!’ No. ‘What about this job?’ No,” Herbstreit said on his podcast, Nonstop. “Guys, you got to stop bringing up Nick Saban for all these. He’s not going anywhere. My man is enjoying his life.

“He told me, ‘For 50 years, I’ve been in a hurry. I’ve been late to something for 50 years.’ Now, he’s got Mercedes-Benz dealerships and Ferrari dealerships. … He’s the happiest he’s probably been in a long, long time; he and Miss Terry.”

Courtesy of LSU Tigers Football.

Now, as the head coaching search in Baton Rouge heats up, all eyes remain on the LSU Tigers and who will be the next shot-caller of the program.

More LSU News:

Elite LSU Football Commit Reaffirms Pledge Despite Ohio State, Ole Miss Pushing

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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