College Football 2021: Ranking the notable Power Five job openings

*Note: Brian Kelly has been hired by LSU

National Titles: 5
Home Stadium: Tigers Stadium (A.K.A “Death Valley”) (102,321)
Heisman Trophy Winners: 2

Advantages

LSU is the best job in college football and it is not close. As Bud Elliot of the Cover 3 Podcast put it, “Alabama is not the best job; it has the best coach.”

Louisiana State University is the best job in college football for several reasons.

Keep in mind its last three coaches — Ed Orgeron, Les Miles, and Nick Saban — all won national titles. Only one of those guys is considered a great coach.

LSU is the state university in Louisiana. LSU does not have to compete for in-state recruits unlike Texas, Florida State, and even Alabama. Many of the public high schools in the state wear purple and gold and many are the Tigers.

It’s not just that LSU is the state’s primary university; everyone in the state loves LSU football. Kids that play want to go to LSU. Why? Who wouldn’t want to play in front of over 100,000 in the loudest football stadium in the country?

LSU could fill a large portion of its roster with players from Louisiana, and players from Louisiana want to go there.

The Tigers have arguably the best facilities in college football. LSU has it all from practice facilities to training and nutrition. LSU has all the facilities a young high school kid with NFL dreams would want.

LSU has the money, resources, and infrastructure any head coach with eyes on a national championship would want. LSU pays head coaches well, and they also pay well for assistant coaches.

A school can’t pay every assistant, analyst, and position coach half a million dollars per season. Some of a coach’s staff is in the 70-100k range. That salary goes a much longer way in a place like Baton Rouge than Los Angeles or Seattle.

Of the jobs open currently, this is the quickest turnaround. There is a king’s ransom of talent already on the roster, though depth is a concern.

So, a coach has the first crack at the best players in a talent-rich state, makes a ton of cash, and pays assistants well? How is it not the best job in the country?

Disadvantages

The only disadvantage, if there is one, is that LSU is not a job you stay for a decade. Orgeron was fired two years removed from winning a national title. There are high expectations in Baton Rouge, and there should be given the investment the university and its donors have made.

Tigers fans and administrators expect the game against Alabama (no matter when the game is played) to be for the SEC West title. The coach of the LSU Tigers had better win 10-plus games per year, win the national title or finish second to Alabama in the SEC West.

Too many 8-9 win seasons will get you fired but the buyout is pretty good, though.