Joel Klatt names the first three calls LSU should make, and No. 3's a stunner

LSU is one of the top jobs in college football with a rich regional talent pool, a passionate fanbase and deep, committed booster support. Prior to the Brian Kelly debacle, the last three head coaches in Baton Rouge, Nick Saban, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron, won national titles in their first four years, all since 2003.

Fox Sports college football analyst and host of "The Joel Klatt Show" Joel Klatt has thoughts about where athletic director Scott Woodward and the Tigers should go next as they seek to repair the damage wrought by Kelly and reclaim their place among college football's elite.

"There's two people that are going to get calls," Klatt said. "And I think that LSU is going to force them to turn down $15 million a year. And that is Urban Meyer and Nick Saban."

"I think both of those guys will get that call and if I'm Scott Woodward I think you have to make that call."

"And then it goes to maybe the more feasible ones although, who knows, maybe one of those guys will be the next coach at LSU."

"And then you go to the next call that is made and I think the next call is going to be Dan Lanning. Dan Lanning obviously has a past in the SEC and he's been successful there as a coordinator as the coordinator of a national champion Georgia team in 2021."

"Then he goes to Oregon and he's been very successful there in building them into a perennial power, last year the undefeated No. 1-seed in the College Football Playoff."

"He recruits well out of the portal. He recruits well out of high school. He's got great energy. Dan Lanning is a home run."

Dan Lanning, Klatt thinks, is the third call after Nick Saban and Urban Meyer. That's staggering. While it makes sense because of his youth, energy and vision, Lanning has been extremely consistent in rejecting job overtures, notably turning down Alabama and Texas A&M in previous cycles.

Lanning would certainly win a national championship at LSU with the tools, talent base and resources available in Baton Rouge. After Kelly's missteps and erratic management style he'd be an incredible fit there, far more attuned to the SEC culture and sensibilities as a native of SE Missouri.

The Tiger brain trust and community will make every effort to make the possibility as attractive, lucrative and irresistible as possible.

Lanning has said repeatedly and consistently that he isn't leaving UO. His conviction that he can win a championship in Eugene is written on his bathrooom mirror.

If he doesn't leave for this job, it's hard to imagine any opening in the country would ever pry him out of Eugene.

The true steal is more likely to go another way. With a dozen jobs open already in college football Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein becomes a top target. Monday morning the Tigers fired offensive coordinator Joe Sloan. Joe Brady, current offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, architect of the 2019 LSU offense that won the National Championship, the Heisman, and catapulted Joe Burrow to 60 passing touchdowns, is a darkhorse candidate to replace Kelly.

The LSU search could become a tale of three Joes, if they have the Will. Dan Lanning's not likely to be involved other than getting a nice, fat raise to stay where he is.