Big 12 Football: Mike Gundy a candidate to replace Orgeron at LSU?

What wound up being a pretty crazy weekend around the Big 12 football landscape came with the likes of the Texas Longhorns and Baylor Bears on a bye week. The two Oklahoma schools were both put in danger of losing their undefeated records, and one was actually knocked off in the end.

The one Oklahoma school that lost was the No. 8 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys and head coach Mike Gundy, who fell short at the hands of the unranked but rapidly improving, Iowa State Cyclones on the road in Ames. Oklahoma State came up short on a short spot on fourth down to lose to Iowa State by the narrow final score of 24-21.

And the Oklahoma Sooners overcame a bad first-half lapse where they were shut out for the first time since 2014. No. 3 ranked Oklahoma and head coach Lincoln Riley wound up topping head coach Lance Leipold and the Jayhawks by the final score of 35-23.

But there is also some drama that could come off the field around the Big 12 landscape in the coming weeks and months. That is largely thanks to some of the more high-profile job openings around the college football landscape right now.

Big 12 football landscape would get a major shakeup if Mike Gundy replaced Ed Orgeron at LSU

One of the most high-profile job openings right now is with the LSU Tigers, following the agreement with head coach Ed Orgeron to part ways at the end of this season. It was just two years ago that Orgeron and the Tigers won the National Championship behind the efforts of Joe Brady and star quarterback Joe Burrow.

But this is a tough season for LSU without a doubt. Following a convincing double-digit loss to the Ole Miss Rebels and head coach Lane Kiffin this weekend, LSU is sporting a record of 4-4 (2-3 SEC West). This all comes after the Tigers finished up with a record of just 5-5 (5-5 SEC West) last season.

That was not the way that most LSU fans envisioned Orgeron and the Tigers following up the magical National Championship-winning 2019 campaign.

Nonetheless, it made sense that LSU had Orgeron on the hot seat throughout most of this season. The timing of the agreement to part ways, especially announcing it in the middle of the season, was interesting. But that could have to do with recruiting implications and trying to get a head start on openly vetting other head coaching candidates this fall.

LSU is focused on righting the ship for the future of this program. And there are already some candidates being announced for this job opening.

One interesting prospect that the Tigers could consider, in particular, is longtime Oklahoma State head coach Gundy. Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports mentioned this week that fans shouldn’t “discount” Gundy in the LSU coaching search.

Gundy is a frequently mentioned head coaching target, especially in the last decade, as he’s consistently taken this Oklahoma State program to the highest levels of sustained success in its history. He’s also finding a lot of success with the Pokes so far this fall, despite the loss to Iowa State this weekend.

Some other coaching candidates commonly mentioned in connection with the LSU job are Kiffin, Texas A&M Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher, and Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin, among many others.

Kiffin and Gundy could be two particular coaching candidates to watch moving forward. Both are solid candidates for the Tigers. And LSU hiring either one of those two would have a tremendous impact on the SEC, and the Longhorns specifically.

With Texas and Oklahoma soon to make the move to leave the Big 12 for the SEC, someone like Gundy or Kiffin making this type of move would obviously alter the landscape in that conference.

Gundy to LSU would be an interesting fit due to the implications on the recruiting trail. Gundy was never one to be too outgoing and boisterous with the elite five-star prospects, or even some of the better four-star recruits. That might not bode well with the LSU faithful.