College football coaching rumors went wild on Thanksgiving. Here’s what you missed

Thanksgiving is usually a slow news day, for obvious reasons.

That was not the case in college football this time around.

Thursday night, reports, rumors, and ramifications fired in every direction about a half-dozen major programs, all while LSU was actively beating Texas A&M on the field. Here’s a rundown of everything that was popping at once, sorted by school.

1. Florida State

Head coach Jimbo Fisher won’t be leaving for LSU, where he used to be the offensive coordinator, ESPN’s Chris Low reported. OK, this part is easy.

2. LSU

That news was followed by a bunch of reporting, by Low and others, that LSU had lasered in on Houston’s Tom Herman as its top choice. We’ve known for weeks that LSU’s top targets have been Fisher, Herman, and interim coach Ed Orgeron, so no surprise there.

The surprise came in stuff like this:

This felt a little premature, seeing as we knew about a meeting with LSU AD Joe Alleva that Orgeron already had scheduled for Black Friday, along with the fact that, you know, Alleva was busy at the time watching Orgeron beat Texas A&M. (LSU released two similar statements during the game, about the program’s focus being on the A&M game, which was happening at the time.) After Orgeron won to complete a 5-2 audition, LSU players filmed themselves chanting, “Keep Coach O!” in the locker room.

So was that burst of Herman-LSU reportage just someone trying to light a fire under Texas?

Well, scant minutes later:

3. Texas

A little bit before all this began, the Austin American-Statesman had reported Charlie Strong could have a chance to save his job with a big win over TCU on Friday (aka the 2015 Les Miles maneuver).

Herman has long been considered a favorite to replace Strong, so if Herman were really about to pounce on LSU, that would’ve been great news for Charlie. Texas would find itself without a no-doubt hire and really might as well let Strong see his rebuild through four years.

Watching this all go down, it really felt like someone at Texas was being stirred from a turkey coma.

This was followed by a side quest: a wave of report-battles on whether Texas had ever decided last weekend to eventually fire Strong.

4. Houston

Oh right, Herman’s current job.

“I have not been informed by Tom or his agent that he has accepted a position at LSU,” UH athletic director Hunter Yuracheck told SB Nation’s Steven Godfrey. “We are in Memphis together, preparing for a game.”

Not gonna happen.

5. Baylor

Oh right, Baylor intends to hire a coach.

Not gonna happen.

6. Texas A&M

During the middle of all this, Kevin Sumlin’s Aggies completed their fourth straight late-season collapse on the field.

(The 2016 finish is now 2-4, but that’s a nice graphic.)

And if Miles was fireable at an SEC West team with high expectations, despite having won a national championship, well ... um ...

Right now, Good Bull Hunting has just about given up on the Sumlin era, though there’s been nothing concrete on his status.

And more schools!

Think about all the other teams this affected.

Fisher staying at FSU decreases the chances of Willie Taggart leaving USF this year, for example.

If Texas and LSU were to somewhat tidily sort their business — whether that means Strong and Herman or Herman and Orgeron, respectively — then the whole coaching carousel would remain calm, basically no matter what else happens. But what happens if Strong loses to TCU, and then Herman and LSU choose each other? Now the Texas job is surely open, with no clear plan. Texas is gonna fumble around and hire your coach.

Also, Sumlin being in trouble could be bad for schools like, say, SMU, where Aggie alum Chad Morris is in the middle of a rebuild and has a win over Herman’s Houston. Morris is already considered a top target for the Baylor job.

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