Jumbo Package: LSU is a political dumpster fire

Happy Friday, everyone. Not a ton of news out there on this bye week Friday, but we’ll bring you what we have. The LSU coaching search is going to be a spectacular dumpster fire, led by a yet to be named Athletic Director who will apparently be hired by the governor, who is currently acting as the interim president because the former president quit in large part because of conditions created by the governor.

“Well, I think it’s obvious to everyone — we had changes on our board. There are new board members. There’s a new administration and it’s fair to say that I was brought in under another administration.”

When Jeff Landry became governor last year, he immediately began re-designing the Board of Supervisors — selecting a new chair and appointing several of his campaign donors.

“It’s fair to say that there were questions about governing philosophy.”

So, why was Landry so sour on fired AD Scott Woodward?

For years, Landry had a front-row seat to LSU athletics from his perch from the Louisiana Capitol, a building that sits about three miles north of campus. This includes the five-year run of men’s basketball coach Will Wade, who won 105 games from 2017-22, took the Tigers to more NCAA tournaments (three) than they had the previous decade and, eventually, found himself in the crosshairs of an NCAA investigation for paying players.

Woodward fired him.

Wade’s coaching rehabilitation tour began just down the road from Baton Rouge a year later, when he proceeded to win 50 games in two seasons at McNeese in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Last spring, as LSU completed a dismal season under third-year coach Matt McMahon, Landry had an idea: hire back Wade.

He urged Woodward and university administrators to do so.

“Scott refused to do it,” said one person with knowledge of the situation.

Get your popcorn, this is going to be fun.

Jaeden Roberts enjoyed his best game of the season on Saturday.

Roberts did not allow a pressure throughout Saturday’s win in Columbia. He earned an 81 from Pro Football Focus for his pass-blocking efforts.

Whether he’ll hold onto the role is yet to be determined, with Alabama taking Saturday off before a Nov. 8 date with LSU at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Crimson Tide has been using an abnormally large rotation on the offensive line, but if Roberts can stick, it would provide a measure of stability to a unit that needs it.

Roberts acknowledged that the large rotation is a challenge, but praised how Kalen DeBoer and company have gone about implementing it.

“The coaches have done a great job to where it’s like everybody’s getting the reps the way it needs to be,” Roberts said. “And just building that constant detail of playing next to each other and grinding with your partner.”

Yes, more of that please, Jaeden.

Blake Doud is finding his footing.

“Definitely improving my hang time and stuff like that because the returners in Division-I are a lot more dangerous than Division-II,” Doud said during Thursday’s media availability. “So helping those guys on the punt team out however I can to make sure those are fair catches and not returnable balls.

Transfer punter Blake Doud won Alabama’s punter competition, with little noise from that unit through Alabama’s first eight games of the regular season. Doud came from the Colorado School of the Mines, a Division II program that received little spotlight. What is the biggest transition for the redshirt senior punter in his lone season with the Crimson Tide?

“I think just transitioning over a couple months and getting used to the weight room was where I felt the most I had to improve and kind of got up to speed here just after a couple months, I’d say.”

We had a little Bama on Bama crime in last night’s NFL game.

It’s like watching your children, all grown up. Speaking of all grown up, he didn’t get a touchdown last night, but King still dishes out the harm. Imagine being on the receiving end of this.

Last, something particularly awesome for your Friday.

Doesn’t get better than that.

Roll Tide.