BATON ROUGE - Jimmy Sexton, the most high profile agent for college football coaches in the country, is upping the ante for LSU to acquire the services of Florida State football coach Jimbo Fisher, according to two influential members of the Tiger Athletic Foundation fund raising arm of LSU's athletic department, as interim coach Ed Orgeron's "audition" fell in a 16-10 loss to 12-point underdog Florida on Saturday.
LSU, through the TAF and major donors, is prepared to pay Fisher $6 million or more as he makes $5.2 million at Florida State as well as pay his $5 million buyout to Florida State, but there are other demands being bantered about, such as a lucrative housing allowance as there is no state income tax in Florida as there is in Louisiana.
Negotiations with Sexton could reach a head on Sunday or Monday as Fisher's No. 14 Seminoles (8-3, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) end the regular season at 7 p.m. Saturday with a home game against No. 13 Florida (8-2, 6-2) on ABC. Florida State is out of the running for the ACC Championship Game and is headed for a second tier bowl, so Fisher will have some time to decide if LSU offers him the job.
LSU athletic director Joe Alleva had contact with Fisher last season when he was in the process of firing then-LSU coach Les Miles, but that fell through when LSU president F. Scott Alexander intervened. Alleva has been in contact with Fisher in recent weeks, particularly after LSU's 10-0 loss to Alabama on Nov. 5, through third parties on both sides.
LSU has also shown interest in Houston coach Tom Herman, who reportedly may be Texas' next coach if Charlie Strong is fired. Strong's Longhorns dropped to 5-6 overall and 3-5 in the Big 12 on Saturday with a 24-21 overtime loss to Kansas. Strong has not had a winning season at Texas and is 16-20 overall and 12-14 in the Big 12 in three seasons. His team hosts Texas Christian University (5-5, 3-4) at 2:30 p.m. Friday to end the regular season. Herman is 22-3 in his second year at Houston.
Fisher is 76-17 in his seventh season at Florida State with a 45-11 record in the Atlantic Coast Conference. From 2012-14, he was 39-3 overall and 23-1 in the ACC with two ACC titles, an Orange Bowl, a national championship in 2013, and a College Football Playoff final four appearance in 2014 at the Rose Bowl. He was a very successful offensive coordinator at LSU from 2000-06, helping the Tigers win the national championship in 2003 along with SEC titles in 2001 and 2003, a SEC West title in 2005 and a Sugar Bowl in 2006.
"Everyone wants Jimbo," a TAF member said. "I just hope Jimmy Sexton doesn't price us out of it."
Sexton represents such highly paid college football coaches as Alabama's Nick Saban, Auburn's Gus Malzahn, Florida's Jim McElwain and South Carolina's Will Muschamp.
Florida State president John Thrasher, meanwhile, feels Fisher is happy at Florida State.
"Jimbo and I talk frequently, and based on that, he is happy here and wants to stay," Thrasher told the Tallahassee Democrat Monday. "He's given me no reason to think differently."
Fisher was asked about LSU at his press conference on Monday as he has been previously.
"I'm extremely happy at Florida State," he said. "Again, I'm not going to comment on those things."
Fisher is under contract through the 2022 season.
"If there is something he needs or wants - within reason - we are open to looking at that," Thrasher said. "I think he feels he gets great support from the administration."
Meanwhile, Orgeron fell to 4-2 during his "audition," as Alleva termed it when he replaced Miles with Orgeron after the preseason No. 5 Tigers started off 2-2 on the season. LSU outgained Florida, which was missing seven injured starters Saturday, by 423 yards to 270 but repeatedly had problems near the goal line throughout the game and lost 16-10. There were two fumbles in goal-to-go situations and a botched hold on a short field goal attempt. On the game's final play on fourth and goal from the 1, tailback Derrius Guice ran the wrong way after a timeout and fumbled.
"Not coming up with points in the red zone really hurt us," Orgeron said at his press luncheon Monday. "Things happened in that football game that we need to execute better. We need to put points on the board when we have to."
The No. 25 Tigers (6-4, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) end the regular season at No. 22 Texas A&M (8-3, 4-3) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday on ESPN.
Orgeron was asked about his job status Monday.
"When we started this, I came up to this podium, and we talked about taking it one day at a time and just doing the best I can on a daily basis," Orgeron said. "So I'm going up to the game following that same routine. Whatever happens after the game, I'm sure we're going to discuss. We haven't discussed anything yet. And things are going to happen the way it should. But my job is to prepare this team to play on Thanksgiving. That's all we're focused on right now. Let the chips fall where they may. What the future holds, anybody knows."
Looking back on his six games as LSU's interim coach, Orgeron said he has enjoyed it immensely. After a very strong start at 3-0 with the combined victories by 125-38, LSU fell, 10-0, to No. 1 Alabama, but recovered to win impressively at Arkansas, 38-10, before losing Saturday.
"What a ride. It's been great," Orgeron said. "We played very well in most games. It's been fun. It's been great."
Coverage of LSU and commentary by Glenn Guilbeau supported by Hebert’s Town & Country Automobile Dealer in Shreveport located at 1155 East Bert Kouns Loop. Research your next Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep or Ram at http://hebertstandc.com/.
