NEW ORLEANS - JANUARY 07: of the Ohio State Buckeyes of the Louisiana State University Tigers during the AllState BCS National Championship on January 7, 2008 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Report: Coach has emerged as the "runaway No. 1 candidate for the LSU job"

Reports previously may have been overblown.

LSU heads into the final two weeks of the season with big matchups against Florida and Texas A&M. Despite Ed Orgeron's best efforts, the focus remains on who will actually take over the head coaching duties.

And according to the USA Today, while the reported contact between LSU and Jimbo Fisher has been "overblown," Dan Wolken notes Fisher is, "widely viewed as the runaway No. 1 candidate for the LSU job, and some of those who know him believe he will take it."

Wolken adds that Fisher himself may not know at this point what he's going to do.

Whether Fisher heads to LSU or not could come down to money in the long run.

Fisher was linked to the job last year around this time as well, with reports circulating that the monetary figure of buying out former coach Les Miles, buying out Fisher and paying him a reasonable salary ended up being too much to bring back the one-time LSU offensive coordinator.

LSU is shifting its focus with whatever new hire the Tigers go after, heading in a more offensively-minded direction.

A prior report noted whoever LSU hires needs to be able to develop at the quarterback position and recruit offensive talent. Fisher has a proven background in that area, and if previous reports are accurate, it's difficult to imagine this one doesn't get done despite his insistence that he's happy at FSU.