The LSU Tigers have fired head coach Brian Kelly, which puts them back into another coaching search.

While the Tigers have not been the same threat that they are known to be in recent years, this is still widely considered by many to be the best job in college football. 

LSU carries a massive brand, great NIL resources and a rich history. Three different coaches have won championships in Baton Rouge since 2000.

Because of this, there will be many names thrown around over the next couple of months. Some will make sense, and some will seem crazy. There are a ton of real possibilities, though.

Here is a running big board of potential coaching options, updating as the process goes along, starting with the most popular names that have been floated around the internet:

Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss Rebels HC

This is the name that makes the most sense in a lot of ways. He has been able to bring the Ole Miss Rebels to new levels of success, but has still been unable to get to the College Football Playoff or win the SEC there.

Things are going well for them this season, but there is still plenty of time left. Should they fail to do so again this year, he could very well be interested in hearing the Tigers out with a coaching offer.

Kiffin has the personality, offensive track record and development skills needed to get LSU back to where they were in the past. This would be a slam dunk hire if they could pull this off.

They would also certainly need it to work out, because he would cost a ton of money on top of the big pile of money they are handing over to Kelly.

Dan Lanning, Oregon Ducks HC 

Lanning is the other coach already at a top program that will be brought up a lot over the next few months. This is a long shot, far less likely than Kiffin, but it should at least be discussed.

He is a coach who feels like he should be in the SEC. That's where he was molded, and it is the type of intensity that he has brought to the Oregon Ducks for years. Putting him back in the heart of the SEC, this time as a head coach, would build a guaranteed yearly contender. He has all of the tools that the Tigers will be looking for. It

It will be hard to pry him away from the Phil Knight/Nike money that the Ducks have been playing with for a while now. Don't expect him to be in the running, barring a real surprise.

Nick Saban, Former LSU and Alabama HC

If LSU could have its pick of anyone in the world to be the next head coach, it would be Saban. He is back in the good graces of everyone in Baton Rouge now that he's not beating them every year, and people can just reminisce on the National Championship 

In retirement, he's been very complimentary of the program and of his time with the team. If he weren't 73 years old and enjoying that retirement, there is no doubt that he would put on the purple and gold again.

The problem is that he is retired and happy.

That being said, the Tigers should put a blank check in front of him and make it very hard for him to say no. The conversations should happen, but who knows if they will.

Jon Sumrall, Tulane Head Coach

Sumrall has done a fantastic job just an hour and a half away in New Orleans at keeping the Tulane Green Wave from falling apart after Willie Fritz left for the Houston Cougars. He is one of the best young minds in college football at just 43 and feels ready to be a star of the sport.

Watching him give press conferences and coach on the sidelines, he just gets it. 

There are going to be people who don't think that LSU is the type of job that hires away from a school in the American Conference. It was the Billy Napier discussion from the last coaching search.

Someone big is going to hire him this offseason; the Tigers would make perfect sense. Sumrall already has ties in the state of Louisiana. He would be able to hit the ground running on the recruiting trail. 

James Franklin, Former Penn State HC

Many consider Franklin and Kelly to be built from the same cloth. They have no problem building out 10-11-win teams; they just can't take that next step.

That line of thinking cuts Franklin short, though. He's 10 years younger, which should allow him plenty of time before being as typecast as Kelly is.

There is also the fact that he's another guy from the Northeast, which will cause cultural concerns. Personality-wise, he does at least seem like a better fit than Kelly was.

Franklin is also a fantastic recruiter and has a great track record of developing elite NFL talent. His teams also usually play hard and look better than the Tigers did at any part of Kelly's tenure.

He hit his ceiling with Penn State, but it wouldn't be shocking to see him be able to match that and even surpass that within just a few years in Baton Rouge.

The talent pool and resources should help him take that next step. That being said, that's what many people said about Kelly.

Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri HC

Drinkwitz is sneakily one of the more intriguing names to watch in this coaching search. He's like an amalgamation of all of the top candidates.

He's a young coach who has had a lot of early success and has done it at multiple schools. It took him one year as a head coach with the Appalachian State Mountaineers before he got an SEC job, which he has done a great job with.

While the Missouri Tigers haven't won anything in the SEC, Drinkwitz has proven the ability to at least compete with top schools.

He's done a great job recruiting. In just a few years, he has turned the Tigers from a bottom-feeder to someone that regularly hosts and can even pull in five-stars. Imagine what he could do in Baton Rouge.

Kelvin Sheppard, Detroit Lions DC

Sheppard certainly isn't one of the biggest names on the market right now, but he probably should be. He's currently the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions. He rose to that role in a very short time, joining his first coaching role in 2021.

The 37-year-old is in the Dan Campbell coaching tree and looks like he has picked up all of the best traits of his NFL mentor.

This would be a different type of hire for LSU, but maybe exactly the one that it needs. 

Sheppard won a National Championship as a player on that 2007 Tigers team. He knows exactly what it means to "bleed purple and gold" and is someone who looks capable of transferring that onto his players.

Brent Key, Kenny Dillingham and Clark Lea

These three coaches are being put together because they are in similar camps. They are great young minds that are deserving of "bigger jobs," but don't seem likely to leave for one any time soon.

All three are at their alma maters and are living out their dreams of turning them into championship contenders. While their names may come up in more conversations, it would be shocking to see them jump the ships they are already on.

Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills OC

Brady was the mastermind of the historic 2019 LSU offense. He would be beloved by the fan base and would be an easy sell to any future offensive recruits. He helped mold some of the biggest stars in the NFL.

The problem is that he doesn't exactly seem like the type of guy to be a college coach. All of the extra stuff that comes with the job, like managing recruiting and NIL. He has roots planted in the NFL, which is a better fit for him.

This is just a case of someone who makes a ton of sense on paper, but might be too hard of a hire to pull off in reality.

Jimbo Fisher, Former Texas A&M HC

Fisher has already been floated by some as a possibility, but it would be an odd decision by Scott Woodward. The contract that he gave Fisher with the Texas A&M Aggies has been one of the most-mocked in the history of the sport.

To see Woodward risk a ton by giving another monster of a contract to Fisher would be a huge shock.

The former Aggies coach had the sport run him by, and he was unable to adapt. The last thing that the Tigers need right now is to move backward as a program. 

Rhett Lashlee, SMU Mustangs HC

Lashlee was hired by the SMU Mustangs back in 2022 and already had them in the College Football Playoff just last season. He has two 11-3 finishes under his belt, with a third still possible.

They have regressed this year, but he is still off to a great start.

The 42-year-old seems destined to be an SEC head coach at some point. He is from SEC country and was the quarterback for the Arkansas Razorbacks in college. He also has two SEC titles as an assistant with the Auburn Tigers.

Alex Golesh, USF Bulls HC

Golesh has done fantastic things for the USF Bulls in just three years at the helm. This would be another case of LSU taking a swing on a young, small school coach with the potential reward of finding someone capable of running their program for the next 30 years if things go right.

He got a taste of the SEC as the offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Volunteers from 2021 to 2022 before being hired away by the Bulls.

Since taking over in 2023, he has two bowl wins and has them at 6-2 so far in 2025. His teams play hard and have been able to at least look like they belong on the same field as much bigger programs.

Dabo Swinney, Clemson Tigers HC

The Clemson Tigers are far from what they have been in years and could look at making a change themselves if they don't see improvements before the year is over.

Swinney still has two National Championship titles in his name in the past decade and is not that far removed from being considered the best coach in the sport.

Things got ugly when he refused to adapt to the transfer portal, but he has at least shown some more willingness as of late. If he actually buys in on the new state of the sport, it's not crazy to think he could return to where he already once was.

Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame HC

Any wide net being cast on the LSU head coaching search might as well include the guy that replaced Kelly with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Freeman, whose name has popped up a couple of times already.

This is a very low chance of possibility, but the Tigers might as well make him decline the call before marking his name off the list. He's a great, young coach that will be coaching football for the next three decades, at least, if he wants to.

And hey, Woodward has gotten a coach to make a surprise exit from South Bend before.

Zach Strief, Denver Broncos AHC

Strief is a very interesting name that is likely to fly under the radar for many, but seems poised to make a step from being an assistant coach very soon.

The 42-year-old has great ties to Louisiana, having played for the New Orleans Saints from 2006 to 2017. Kids who grew up in the state and watched the Saints play know his name and that would surely help him in recruiting.

Plus, he would be able to help LSU get back to where they should be in the trenches. Finding some sort of identity will be crucial for their next hire to pull off quickly.

After learning under Sean Payton for nearly 20 years, he has surely soaked up enough football knowledge to be a head coach is some stage of football.

This story will continue to be updated.