The year was 1990.The Tigers were off their second consecutive four-win season and trying to fill a coaching vacancy left by the recently fired Mike Archer.And then it happened. Possibly one of the worst coaching decisions LSU has ever made.Just three years into becoming a college head coach, then-Florida coach and current South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier sat down with then-LSU Athletic Director Joe Dean to talk some business.Unfortunately Dean hired Southern Miss coach Curley Hallman on Nov. 28, 1990, and passed on Spurrier.Ever wonder what would have happened if Spurrier donned the purple and gold instead of Hallman?For starters, the team wouldn’t have compiled a 0.364 win percentage (16-28) during the next four years under Hallman — the lowest percentage of any coach in school history that coached at least 10 games.The Tigers wouldn’t have suffered their worst loss in program history Oct. 9, 1993, when Spurrier led Florida to a 58-3 whipping of LSU in Tiger Stadium.But more importantly, the Tigers would have secured one of the all-time greatest Southeastern Conference coaches, and LSU would have been spared the school’s second worst coaching decision when they hired former coach Gerry DiNardo.The conservative I-formation offensive schemes the Tigers ran in the ’90s would have be chucked out the window and replaced with Spurrier’s spread offense.And chants such as “Fear the Visor” would accompany others like “Geaux Tigers” and “T-I-G-E-R-S TIGERS.”I can see it now: 90,000 fans entering Tiger stadium with purple and gold visors atop their head’s. Beautiful.Spurrier would have transformed one of the conference’s worst offensive teams of the ’90s into a scoring machine — something DiNardo couldn’t accomplish.And if his Florida coaching career is any indication of what LSU would have accomplished, the Tigers would have enjoyed six SEC titles (1991, 1993-1996, 2000), an average of 10 wins per season and a top-15 national ranking every season.Add in 11 bowl appearances and an offense that would become the only collegiate unit to score at least 500 points for four straight seasons — all things the Gators accomplished with Spurrier at the helm — and the Tigers would be sitting near the top of the NCAA football world.The University would have become the hot spot for college athletics with those numbers.LSU would be its own dynasty. The baseball team’s five national championships, the men’s and women’s track and field teams’ combined 22 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field championships and the football team’s success would have brought LSU athletics to a new stratosphere.The wins and championships during that span would have made the Tigers one of the all-time most successful college athletics programs.Spurrier, an excellent recruiter, would have locked up the state long before LSU fans knew Nick Saban existed.And just think of what LSU would have accomplished with Spurrier advising former quarterback Herb Tyler, Rohan Davey and Josh Booty. The man can mold nearly any semi-skilled quarterback into a contender. The Ol’ Ball Coach turned subpar players like Danny Wuerffel and Rex Grossman into a Heisman Trophy winner and a first-round NFL draft pick, respectively.Former running back Billy Cannon might not be the Tigers’ only Heisman winner if Spurrier had taken the reigns. Tyler, who went 26-5 as a starter and passed for 5,876 yards and 40 touchdowns, while rushing for 778 yards and 23 touchdowns during his time under DiNardo, would have been a Heisman contender nearly every season under Spurrier’s tutelage.But with the good comes the bad.Great running backs like Cecil “The Diesel” Collins, Kevin Faulk, Rondell Mealey and        Joseph Addai may have never graced this beautiful campus because of Spurrier’s system. Spurrier would have to look elsewhere for help for a position that is used more as a decoy in his pre-South Carolina scheme.Spurrier also jetted Florida to take a coaching position for the Washington Redskins in 2002. If he would have left LSU, the Tigers would have been left with a below-average group of replacements.That list included current Washington coach Tyrone Willingham, current Illinois coach Ron Zook and current Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Chan Gailey.Then again they could have gotten another steal if the LSU hired current California coach Jeff Tedford as Spurrier’s replacement.With the possibility of Collins, Faulk and Mealey out the picture, two recruits may have made up for their absences.And I highly doubt Spurrier, the recruiting mastermind that he is, would have let both Peyton and Eli Manning get out of the state.Former wide receiver Eddie Kennison, Abram Booty and Larry Foster would have loved to see Peyton Manning in the pocket. The same could be said for former wide outs Michael Clayton, Devery Henderson and Skyler Green, who would have helped Eli Manning feast on SEC defensive backs.Can you say, “Championship?”- – – -Contact Jay St. Pierre at [email protected]