Governor Landry reportedly had something to do with Brian Kelly losing his job as LSU’s head football coach. Andrew Greenstein reports.
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LSU is expected to be aggressive in getting the best football coach it can find. So who’s the betting favorite to replace Brian Kelly? Jeff Palermo has the story.
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A real taste of fall is coming, as the strongest cold front of the season makes its way through the Bayou State later today. LRN Meteorologist Bill Jacquemin has the story.
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Governor Landry reportedly had outsized influence in Scott Woodward’s decision to fire Brian Kelly as LSU’s head football coach. Jeremy Alford, the publisher of LaPolitics-dot-com, says such involvement by Landry is not unprecedented.
Cut 4 (14) “…of his personality.”
Alford says Landry injecting himself into LSU football’s business has been par for the course for him – last season, over objections from the university and veterinary experts, Landry facilitated the transport of a live tiger to be wheeled onto the field at Tiger Stadium prior to the Alabama game.
Cut 5 (08) “…miss that opportunity.”
Alford says it’s not that unusual for governors to be involved to some degree in their respective states’ football programs – in fact, in an indirect way, they already are.
Cut 6 (09) “…our flagship university.”
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Bookies-dot-com has Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin as the betting favorite to be the next head coach of the LSU Tigers. Kiffin’s odds are at +375 or 21-percent. Christopher Boan, the lead writer for Bookies-dot-com, says Kiffin has the seventh-ranked Rebels in position to make the College Football Playoff, but he could build a consistent winner in Baton Rouge.
BetOnline has Tulane Coach Jon Sumrall as the favorite to be the next LSU coach at +150. Boan says Bookies-dot-com gives Sumrall a 10-percent chance of being the next head coach. He says the 43-year-old is an up-and-comer in the coaching ranks.
Bookies-dot-com has Louisville coach Jeff Brohm and Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham as two other coaches who have decent odds replace Kelly. Boan says Brohm and Dillingham are having success at their alma maters.
Cut 9 (09) “…Kenny Dillingham’s case.”
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Now that Julie Emerson has become the fifth prominent candidate to challenge Bill Cassidy for the Republican Senate nomination, how does that change the primary race? ULM Political Science Professor Pearson Cross says given the number of challengers he’s facing, Cassidy has almost no chance of securing a majority of the vote in the primary, but he’s all but guaranteed to finish in the top two.
Cross says usually, entering the race at this relatively late stage might work against Emerson and her ability to raise enough money to mount a serious challenge. However, these days, the late start won’t hurt her quite as much.
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Cross says since Emerson has entered the race, there’s one name that we will likely NOT see on the Senate ballot.
(Cross says with Emerson in, that means Julia Letlow likely has decided not to enter the race.)
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State Police have arrested a 21-year-old Monroe man for allegedly staging multiple car crashes and collecting thousands of dollars in fraudulent insurance claims. Senior Trooper Ryan Davis says they started their investigation in February, after the Louisiana Department of Insurance alerted them that Adrian Simpson was involved in insurance fraud.
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Davis says as the investigation progressed, investigators learned that Sampson had planned, staged and orchestrated crashes to file fraudulent insurance claims.
Cut 14 (11) “…for personal gain.”
Davis says Sampson potentially gained 156-thousand dollars from the victims of his fraudulent claims. He’s facing 49 felony counts of racketeering, insurance fraud, criminal damage to property, and staged crashes.
Cut 15 (09) “…from Mr. Sampson.”
Anyone with information regarding this matter should contact the State Police Insurance Fraud-Auto Theft Unit in Monroe at 318-362-4588.
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UL-Lafayette is now 2-and-6 on the year after Saturday’s 35-23 loss to Troy. Head coach Michael Desormeaux (DEZ-er-moe) says from this point forward, each game will matter a little more, as the Cajuns now have to win out to become bowl eligible.
UL-Lafayette hasn’t missed a bowl game since 2017.
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ULM is now 3-and-5 after a 49-21 loss to Southern Mississippi on Saturday. Head coach Bryant Vincent still has full faith in the job that he and his players are working towards with building the program.
The Warhawks return to Monroe to host Old Dominion this Saturday afternoon at 2:30.
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In the Saints’ 23-3 loss to the Buccaneers, starting quarterback Spencer Rattler was benched after turning the ball over twice. Rookie Tyler Shough (“shuck”) came into the game late in the third quarter and threw for 128 yards with an interception. Head coach Kellen Moore says the team has not decided on a starer for this week’s game against the Rams.
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Rattler was taken out of the game after fumbling and throwing an interception. With the quarterback competition being reopened, Rattler says his mentality will remain the same as it’s been all season as the Saints prepare to take on the Rams.
Shough says he has to do a better job moving forward.