Alabama Coach Nick Saban argues with a referee following a fourth quarter call against Arkansas. Robert Sutton / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Nick Saban, Kirk Herbstreit Analyze Lane Kiffin's Decision: LSU, Florida, Ole Miss?

Originally posted on LSU Tigers on SI | By Zack Nagy | Last updated Nov 1, 2025 4:12 PM ET

The LSU Tigers' coaching search continues stealing headlines this week with college football analysts from coast-to-coast weighing in on what's next in Baton Rouge.

After relieving Brian Kelly of his duties last Sunday, the Bayou Bengals will begin their process of a national search with candidates popping into the picture left and right.

Now, ESPN College GameDay hosts Nick Saban and Kirk Herbstreit chimed in on what could be next for the program - specifically potential candidate Lane Kiffin.

Nick Saban's Take: Different NCAA Landscape

“In college now, everything is external,” Saban said on College GameDay. “How much money can you raise in your collective? What kind of marketing program do you have? How can you sort of keep your roster together based on all these resources that you can get?

"So who has been able to take these external factors and bring them inside the building and make the adaptations you need to make to have a successful program? And I think that’s what we’re seeing now, but that’s changed.

“So you got a team like Indiana … who really never, traditionally, anybody looked at as a great job. And like Ole Miss, you know, Lane’s been really successful at Ole Miss, but how could you make the argument that LSU or Florida or any of those schools are better than Ole Miss based on the support that he has and how they’ve been able to manage things internally with all these external factors?

"So I think everybody needs to be very careful about how they evaluate their opportunity.”

Kirk Herbstreit Chimes In: Stay at Ole Miss?

“Isn’t that fascinating to think you would think as a young coach, your dream is to coach at Michigan or Alabama, but Arizona State last year is an example of what you’re talking about,” Herbstreit said of Kiffin and coaches in 2025.

“Indiana, you brought up Vanderbilt, (they’re) an example of that, Cincinnati right now … It almost makes you wonder if you’re a coach and you look at these opportunities like Kiffin … does it make sense to stay at Ole Miss, where you still have expectations, but if you go to LSU, you don’t make the playoff, you’re fired.

“You go to Ohio State, you don’t make the playoff, you’re fired. You go to Alabama … Maybe that it’s kind of like college basketball. Gonzaga, Xavier Butler, University of Dayton, maybe those are the places to be instead of Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, where you better win now or your a** is gone.”

Now, as the coaching search gets underway, the LSU Tigers remain the talk of the town with the vacancy labeled the "No. 1 availability" in America

This article first appeared on LSU Tigers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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