Although Louisiana State University was not listed as one of the top public national universities in the most recent reporting by U.S. News & World Report, its pursuit of football fame is of noteworthy acclaim.
First, there was the Ed Orgeron buyout of $17 million. Chump change compared to the $54 million Brian Kelly buyout. Next followed the Lane Kiffin $91 million, seven year contract which includes $750,000 more if he gets LSU into the college playoffs, $1 million for reaching the college quarterfinals, $1.5 million for reaching the semifinals, $2 million for competing in the finals, and a whopping $3 million for winning the championship.
However, LSU just didn’t stop spending money on football head coaches, for they ponied up another $42.8 million for this year’s transfer portal, ranked the 4th highest spending of all colleges according to CBS Sports.
And let’s not forget the costs associated with the firing of Kelly’s assistant coaches, and the hiring of new assistant coaches for Kiffin which includes the re-employment of Ed Orgeron as a special assistant at $100,000.
I bet if even half these monies were sunk into the academic aspect of LSU they could make that U.S. News & World Report’s top ranking.
I wish LSU all the best in their quest for football fame, since they seem to have no limit on what they will spend to get that, and I'm guessing if things don’t work out they can always send Lane Kiffin packing with a $73 million buyout.
Ironically, LSU is touted as the premier academic university in this state. Maybe it’s time for them to reconsider just what that really means.
