As Lewis Cass sits in the center of Big Ten country, college football is a very key part of many sports fans’ weekend schedules. With this love, someone would think the Midwest would stand above the rest, but this infatuation is slim when comparing it to our country’s southern region, where the Southeastern Conference (SEC) controls the fanbases’ everyday life. This pedestal has led the SEC to its stardom, where it is the place to be for players and coaches alike. As dynasties come and go, coaching tenures rise and fall, and with the new NIL (Name Image Likeness) era, this rate has sped up dramatically. The newest victim of this is Louisiana State University (LSU), which fired their then-head coach Brian Kelly, and is currently looking for a new chapter for the Tigers. To ensure this process is streamlined, Louisiana’s Governor has stepped in to lead this revamp.
This might seem like an overstep, but the landscape down south is cutthroat about college football and having the ability to dominate their rivals. Perfection is not a hope; it is an expectation, as nine of their sixteen members are ranked in the latest AP Poll Top 25 (November 2), per AP. The constant competition and comparison between these teams is brutal, and one loss changes a narrative from destiny to despair. After previous multiple college football playoff appearances with the University of Notre Dame, Brian Kelly dipped down to the bayou, looking to have an energetic rebuild of the LSU Tigers. This fiery start turned to fits after many slow starts led to nine-to-ten win seasons. With these respectable regular seasons, Kelly was undefeated in bowl season, but no National Championships. This might seem lofty, but the expectation within the SEC is growing and growing, and they fired coach Kelly after their embarrassing loss to undefeated Texas A&M, 25-49.
What was Kelly’s missing link? It is hard to tell. He had the program, the money, and even a Heisman Trophy winner, but could not break through the glass ceiling. LSU has had a reputation for ripping the band-aid off early on in decline, as shown when former head coach Ed Orgeron was fired twenty-one months after winning a National Championship in 2020. Along with this, the rise of NIL is allowing for more fan bases to buy out current coaches’ guaranteed salaries if schools are dissatisfied with the product. As the coaching carousel continues to gain riders for the 2026 off-season, the tiger riding for LSU is the coveted spot for many.
In the search for their new direction for the Tigers, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry chimed in on how LSU’s Athletic Director Scott Woodward would not be a part of the hiring process, a job which his position (AD) entitles him to hire, per CBS Sports. Since Woodward hired Kelly, Kelly’s failure weighs down the staff who worked so hard to get him to LSU, who fired Woodward after these comments were made. Most fans might be asking, “How is this legal?”, but this can happen at any public university across the country. Dan Wetzel of ESPN said that while Governor Landry might not directly be able to make this decision, he can appoint a quorum of a board of directors to ultimately decide the university’s next chapter for LSU athletics. These board members are looking to hit the killshot on the pattern of good coaches, and hopefully hire a great one.
For the SEC landscape, this overuse of authority was bound to happen, and the constant sense of competition for a leg up within the conference will push more schools to join in this government takeover. The bonding between private funds and government authority has officially taken its toll on college sports. The funding of college football over the last five years has led to actions such as this becoming a normal occurrence, and there seems to be no end in sight. A once traditional sport has fallen into the hands of the rich and powerful, and the effects of it are growing game by game. Here in Big Ten country, it might seem impossible, but this bill in Baton Rouge could take on federal repercussions.
