If one report is accurate, there was more to the Jimbo Fisher-to-LSU speculation the last couple of weeks than most in Seminole Nation would like to acknowledge. Much more, as it turned out.
LSU president F. King Alexander acknowledged in an interview earlier this week that the decision to retain Les Miles as head coach wasn’t finalized until a meeting at halftime of the Texas A&M game this past Saturday. While public sentiment played a role in the decision, the president allowed, the fact that it would’ve cost upwards of $25 million to oust Miles was the overriding factor.
According to the Baton Rouge Advocate, that figure actually would’ve been closer to $30 million or perhaps even more. And the reason for such a figure is that Fisher was the primary target as Miles’ replacement. From the Advocate:Intermediaries from LSU and intermediaries for Fisher were in discussions as late as last week about the former Tigers assistant coach replacing Miles, but those talks curtailed late in the week.
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Representatives for Fisher and those from LSU were in negotiations for him to replace Miles, four sources knowledgeable of the talks told The Advocate.
The $30 million-plus to replace Miles with Fisher -- $15 million for Miles’ buyout, $5 million for Fisher’s buyout, $5 million-plus for Fisher’s salary, $2 million-plus to buy out Miles’ assistants, $4 million-plus for Fisher’s staff -- was a figure that reportedly “shocked” Alexander, who stated in the interview with the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report that university officials didn’t “need to go into the next legislative session with a black eye that we’re throwing tens of millions of dollars around on issues that aren’t associated with academic progress.”
While university funds wouldn’t have been utilized, "[t]he public at large really doesn’t differentiate where the money comes from,” Alexander told the GBRBR. “No matter how you explain it, it’s still a $15 million to $25 million decision that needs to be factored into the overall equation.”
With the financial costs to continue a pursuit of Fisher being deemed prohibitive, “the university began leaning toward keeping Miles as early as Wednesday” of last week, the Advocate noted. Three days later, following a win over A&M in which Miles’ players carried their coach off the field, the Mad Hatter was informed that he would be retained.