Former LSU athletics director Joe Alleva spoke candidly to Advocate columnist Scott Rabalais about moves made during his tenure. Alleva hired Ed Orgeron as head football coach in 2016. But in 2015 there were reports LSU wanted to fire Les Miles and hire then-Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher. In the Rabalais’ column, Alleva said he was not interested in Fisher.
“That was probably the part I’m still trying to figure out me personally, he really feels now or this changed after four years, because you get a lot of different opinions about that,” said Rabalais.
Rabalais’ column also says LSU could have hired then-Houston coach Tom Herman in 2016, but Alleva told Rabalais he didn’t want to pay Herman the money he wanted and thought Orgeron was the better choice.
“He was proven right, those other guys have not had good seasons the last couple years as he’s had,” said Rabalais.
Alleva is also quoted in the column that Miles squandered and didn’t’ utilize the players properly. Rabalais says Alleva told him that talking to Les was like talking to a wall.
“He was frustrated that Les refused to evolve, they stuck with the same power running offense that Les Miles had when he was a player at Michigan,” said Rabalais.
Alleva also told Rabalais that he regrets hiring current basketball coach Will Wade. It was the Wade FBI wiretap scandal that led to Alleva being pushed out as AD.
