Scooter Hobbs: Comparing the predicaments of LSU, Saints

Published 1:59 pm Wednesday, December 31, 2025

The two focal points of Louisiana’s football obsession are in different spots with their awful seasons ending (LSU) and nearing the end (Saints).

Among the on-campus professionals, LSU pondered another year of mediocrity and got its man in new head coach Lane Kiffin. That seems to be enough — for now — to at least sate a demanding fan base.

We’ll see. There’s a lot work to do, but the college game is no longer encumbered by any pesky rules and very few regulations. So there is nothing holding Kiffin back from getting the Tigers back to prominence.

We’ll see.

The traditional pay-for-play pros, the Saints, are actually in much better shape and a lot closer to their own playoffs than LSU.

For LSU, for now, landing Kiffin was the only real thing the program can point to.

We’ll leave the Tigers alone for now.

The Saints began the season in far worse shape and looked to be heading for another cliff before getting on the current four-game winning streak. Only a final game at arch-rival Atlanta is left to play.

You can poo-pah that four in a row all you please— granted, the four victims are a combined 21-43. You don’t want to put too much stock in it.

But that’s not important now.

This trying season was worth it for the Saints if for no other reason than they found a coach, even if the hiring of Kellen Moore in the offseason didn’t move many NFL needles.

Well, there is another reason.

More importantly, perhaps, the Saints absolutely, positively, without question have found their franchise quarterback for the foreseeable future.

Tyler Shough. Remember the name. Better yet, learn to pronounce it — “Shuck,” but certainly not as in, Aw Shucks.

Think about it. Franchise quarterback + Top flight head coach = well, that’s half the battle to building an NFL playoff team right there.

And dare I say it?

With Moore and Shough, could we be looking at the dawn of Sean Peyton-Drew Brees, Part Deaux?

OK, maybe that’s getting ahead of ourselves.

But don’t discount it. Let it play out.

Give Moore some credit. He’s on track. When the Saints opened the season 0-4 and 1-8, he surely didn’t look much like the answer. And, frankly, his sideline body language didn’t look much better than that of the coach he mercifully placed, Dennis Allen.

But what do you want? There were some setbacks along the way, but for the most part the Saints have gotten better week by week.

What more can you ask?

They got a whole lot better after Shough replaced Spencer Rattler at quarterback when the team hit the 1-7 mark.

Two ways to look at that — give Moore credit for making to making the change or … what in the world took so long?

This guy is the real deal. He stays cool and calm, makes all the throws, has developed serious chemistry with top receiver Chris Olave and has gone 5-3 since he took the starting job. Oh, you want clutch? Three of those five wins were fourth-quarter comebacks.

I’ve even heard it suggested that if he had started the whole season, the Saints would be playoff bound right now. It’s not that far-fetched, if only because of how weak the NFC South is.

Maybe hold off on the Hall of Fame for nows, although offensive rookie of the year surely should be in play.

Mainly, if the Saints spend a draft pick on a quarterback at any spot in the next NFL draft, they ought to fire the whole front office.

They have plenty of other pressing needs that need their attention to complete this rebuild.

But it’s a much clearer path to contention when you’re looking to build around a franchise QB1 rather than find one.

You’d probably start with the offensive line, the lack of which makes what Moore and Shough have done this year all the more impressive.

It’s not like they’re overrun with big-name playmakers.

Still, sometimes it seems the Saints plug in these skill players from week to week after finding them working in the river docks or bartending.

Something always seems to show up, at least one new unknown star per week that leaves you scratching your head — Who? Who in tarnation is that?

That new duo, however, certainly has Saints’ fans optimistic after what was overall a miserable season.

Plus, every great team needs the quirky pleasure of a cannon-legged Irish place kicker, right?

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Scooter Hobbs covers LSU athletics for the American Press. Contact him at scooter.hobbs@americanpress.com