When John Brady was fired as LSU's basketball coach, the names that immediately surfaced were that of Anthony Grant and Travis Ford.....two successful coaches at non-BCS institutions with ties to the SEC, Grant with Florida and Ford with Kentucky.
Made perfect sense. After all, LSU's last coach had come from (ahem) Samford. Hiring either of those two guys would certainly have looked better, at least on paper, than their last hire.
Enter new LSU AD Joe Alleva.
It took Alleva seven interviews and just a few days to find his man.
A man from a BCS league who reached the Sweet Sixteen this season. A man who took a floundering mid-major in Nevada and turned them into a Sweet Sixteen team as well.
Tiger fans, meet Trent Johnson.
Johnson was introduced to the media Thursday and by all accounts, made a good first impression. He said all the right things. But Johnson knows he has work to do. He has to get the Tigers, just two years removed from a Final Four appearance, back on track.
And, he needs to reach LSU's fickle fan base.
This isn't football. It's basketball.....not exactly a bastion of interest in South Louisiana. In the past LSU fans have shown that they'll show up if you win (unless, of course, Pete Maravich plays for you). Johnson needs to use his personality and that of his players to reach out to the LSU student body and the fan base in general. Because, with the money they're going to pay him, a half-filled Maravich Assembly Center just won't do.
The best way, naturally is to win. Win, and they will come. But Johnson needs to touch enough fans to insure that they'll come, even if LSU isn't in the Sweet Sixteen each year.
Johnson also needs to deal with the Butch Pierre situation. He said he wants to talk to Pierre. If Johnson is smart, he'll put on his best sales pitch. It might be an uncomfortable situation for both men. Pierre has to be very disappointed that he got no more than a courtesy interview. Johnson has to deal with the faction that supported Pierre to be the head coach.
But when all is said and done, Johnson has to answer this question:
Would he rather have Butch Pierre working for him, or elsewhere in the SEC working against him?