LSU Coach Archer Expects to Be Fired

BATON ROUGE, La. — Football Coach Mike Archer said on his weekly radio show that his job at Louisiana State appears to be over.

“The brawl didn’t help,” he said, talking about the postgame fight with Florida State and other low points of the season. “We got a bad rap for that. I got a bad rap for that.

“I can say it now, because obviously it looks like I’m gone.”

Baton Rouge television station WBRZ-TV reported Wednesday that administrators have decided to fire Archer at the end of the season, now 4-5 with games remaining against Mississippi State and Tulane.

Chancellor Bud Davis and Athletic Director Joe Dean both denied the report.

“A decision has not been made. It will come after the season, as we have said all along,” Dean said.

Archer mentioned several times on the show that his stay at LSU seemed to be over.

“We have a lot of young players here and whoever the next coach is, if I’m not the coach, will have a very, very good football team and a lot of young guys who are going to play very, very hard,” he said. “They should be successful because I think we’ve got the right kids in our program right now.”

WBRZ-TV quoted unidentified LSU sources as saying Archer’s fate was sealed after the Tigers’ 24-3 loss last weekend to Alabama.