Despite numerous reports only one coach received a formal offer to be LSU’s next coach.
LSU coach Ed Orgeron received an offer from Alleva Saturday morning and officially became LSU’s new head coach.
But on Thursday before LSU defeated Texas A&M, 54-39, multiple reports indicated LSU was nearing a deal with Tom Herman, who is now expected to become Texas’ next head coach, according to multiple reports.
Alleva, during the LSU-A&M game, released a statement denying the reports. Who or how those reports came out are still unknown, but Alleva gave indication about who it may have been.
“It was just a shame that all that came out while we were playing a game,” Alleva said. “That’s the sad thing about it. It was all orchestrated, by someone, you can figure it out.”
Before Orgeron met with media members for his postgame press conference Alleva spoke with Orgeron to tell him about the rumors.
Those rumors had no bearing on LSU’s coaching search, Alleva said, and Orgeron handled the situation well, the athletic director added.
“Ed’s a professional,” Alleva said. “He’s been in this business a long time. Rumors get started all the time.”
LSU considered 10-12 candidates for its head coaching vacancy, and Alleva said he spoke to numerous agents that represented those coaches. But ultimately, LSU wasn’t going to get into a bidding war with another university for its football coach, Alleva said.
“I wasn’t going to get in a situation where we’re bidding with other schools,” Alleva said. “It came down to get the best coach. After I met with Ed yesterday, and the presentation he made to me about the future of this program, and the fact that Ed is the best recruiter in the country, he demonstrated his unbelievable ability to motivate the kids.”
Alleva and Orgeron met on Friday and presented his plans going forward for LSU’s football program.
A phone call from Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, who coached with Orgeron at USC from 2000-04 stuck with Alleva the most.
“He said, Coach O has the ability to get the most out of people,” Alleva said. “He has the ability to motivate people to do things they don’t think they’re capable of doing. That just stuck with me. I thought about it, thought about it. I don’t think there’s a person that I’ve met that has a bigger heart and a bigger desire to succeed than Coach O.”
