Edward James Orgeron Jr. (; born July 27, 1961) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach. He was most recently the head football coach at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

(LSU), a position he held from midway through the 2016 season until the 2021 season. Orgeron previously served as the head football coach at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

(Ole Miss) from 2005 to 2007 and was the interim head coach at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

(USC) in 2013. He led the

2019 LSU Tigers football team The 2019 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers played their home games at Tiger Stadium (nicknamed Death Valley) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and competed in th ...

to a

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

, beating the defending champions Clemson in the

2020 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship was a college football bowl game that determined a national champion in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the 2019 season. It was played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome i ...

. Orgeron played college football as a defensive lineman at

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

and

Northwestern State University Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the Univer ...

Early years and playing career

Born to Edward "Ba Ba" Orgeron Sr. (d. 2011) and Cornelia "Co Co" Orgeron on July 27, 1961, Orgeron and his brother Steve grew up in Larose, a town on the

Bayou Lafourche Bayou Lafourche ( ), originally called Chetimachas River or La Fourche des Chetimaches, (the fork of the Chitimacha), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 20, 2011 ba ...

in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. He is of Cajun descent. Orgeron attended

South Lafourche High School South Lafourche High School is a public secondary school in the Galliano census-designated place, an unincorporated area in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States.Galliano, Louisiana with future

Michigan Panthers The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in the Detroit, Michigan area. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played i ...

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, and Atlanta Falcons

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Bobby Hebert Bobby Joseph Hebert Jr. (surname pronounced ; born August 19, 1960) is an American sportscaster and former professional football quarterback. He played in the United States Football League (USFL) and National Football League (NFL) from 1983 to ...

. Orgeron and Hebert played on the school's Class 4A state championship team in 1977. Orgeron signed to play football at

, but left the program after his first year to transfer to

Natchitoches, Louisiana Natchitoches ( ; french: link=no, Les Natchitoches) is a small city and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was name ...

Coaching career

Early coaching years

Orgeron began coaching in 1984 as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respo ...

Northwestern State Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the Univer ...

and the following year coached at McNeese State in

Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles (French: ''Lac Charles'') is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcas ...

. He then served two years as an assistant strength coach under

Ken Hatfield Kenneth Wahl Hatfield (born June 6, 1943) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Air Force Academy (1979–1983), the University of Arkansas (1984–1989), Clemson University (1 ...

at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. In 1988, he began his tenure with the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

, under then-head coach Jimmy Johnson and his successor,

Dennis Erickson Dennis Brian Erickson (born March 24, 1947) is an American football coach who most recently served as the head coach for the Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football league. He was also the head coach at the University of Idaho ...

. He was their defensive line coach for four of those years, in which he coached eight All-Americans (including NFL first-round draft choices

Cortez Kennedy Cortez Kennedy (August 23, 1968 May 23, 2017) was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle for his entire 11-season career with the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was inducted into the Pro ...

Russell Maryland Russell James Maryland (born March 22, 1969) is a former professional American football player. He played defensive tackle for ten seasons for the Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders, and Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He w ...

and

Warren Sapp Warren Carlos Sapp (born December 19, 1972) is an American former football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sapp played college football at Miami, where h ...

). While he was with the Hurricanes, the program won two national championships (in 1989 and 1991), and he recruited a young

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the develop ...

(later known as "The Rock" in his professional wrestling and film careers) as a defensive lineman. Starting in 1991, a series of personal problems began to surface for Orgeron. A local woman filed a restraining order against Orgeron, accusing him of repeatedly attacking her. In July 1992, Orgeron was arrested for his part in a bar fight in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

; Orgeron acknowledged he had been intoxicated that night and had grown angry when not allowed back inside to retrieve his credit card.Randy Mell
After UM, Orgeron Turned Life Around
''Sun-Sentinel'', December 31, 2004, accessed September 29, 2013. In October 1992, Orgeron took a

leave of absence The labour law concept of leave, specifically paid leave or, in some countries' long-form, a leave of absence, is an authorised prolonged absence from work, for any reason authorised by the workplace. When people "take leave" in this way, they are ...

from the University of Miami coaching staff for personal reasons; the departure turned out to be a permanent one, however and he was replaced by assistant coach Randy Shannon.Randy Mell
Defensive Line Coach Gets Leave Of Absence
''Sun-Sentinel'', October 27, 1992, accessed September 29, 2013. Taking a respite from coaching, Orgeron worked on his personal life: the permanent injunction against him was eventually rescinded and the felony second-degree battery charges he faced were dropped. He stayed with his parents in Larose, crediting his father for helping him get his life in order. Orgeron returned to coaching in 1994 but as a volunteer linebackers coach at Nicholls State University. The following year, he moved from the south to the northeastern U.S., accepting a job with head coach

Paul Pasqualoni Paul Lucian Pasqualoni (; born August 16, 1949) is an American football coach. He most recently was the defensive line coach for the Carolina Panthers. Pasqualoni has served as the defensive coordinator of the NFL's Miami Dolphins and Detroit L ...

's staff at Syracuse University, where he coached the defensive line for three years. Orgeron credited Pasqualoni for giving him a second chance at major-college coaching (after his prior personal issues had damaged his 'hireability') and helping him develop as a coach on and off the field.

USC (first stint)

In 1998, Orgeron was hired by offensive guru Paul Hackett, the newly hired head coach of USC (the

), to coach the Trojans defensive line. After Hackett's 2000 firing, Orgeron was one of a handful of coaches retained by Hackett's replacement,

Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American football coach who is the head coach and executive vice president for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head football coach at USC from ...

, a defensive specialist. The two had met during a high school football game when Carroll was still only a candidate for the head coach position and connected over their shared passion for recruiting. During the Carroll years, USC enjoyed much success, including two (

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

) National Championships. Orgeron took on the added responsibility of Recruiting Coordinator in 2001 and was named assistant head coach in 2003. Orgeron won National Recruiter of the Year honors in 2004, the same year he was hired by Ole Miss to replace head coach

David Cutcliffe David Nelson Cutcliffe (born September 16, 1954) is the Special Assistant to the Commissioner for Football Relations at the Southeastern Conference and former college football coach, most recently head coach of the Duke University Blue Devils. ...

Ole Miss

Upon arriving at Ole Miss as head coach, Orgeron attempted to bring USC's passing game coordinator,

Lane Kiffin Lane Monte Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. Kiffin formerly was the offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans football team from 2005 to 2006, head coach of the Nati ...

, with him as the new offensive coordinator, but Kiffin opted to stay with the Trojans. Entering the 2005 season, Orgeron had hoped to bring a USC-style offense to the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC), but found limited success. The University of Mississippi's offense finished the season ranked 111th out of 117 Division I-A schools, in total offense; 115th in scoring; and, 116th in rushing. Orgeron's defensive experience, along with returning

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

Patrick Willis Patrick L. Willis (born January 25, 1985) is an American former football middle linebacker who played his entire eight-year career with the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the 49ers in the first rou ...

, helped the Rebel defense in 2005, but as a result of the offensive woes, the 2005 team struggled and finished the season with a record of three wins and eight losses—the Rebels' worst record since 1987. In response to the results of his first season, Orgeron fired offensive coordinator

Noel Mazzone Noel Scott Mazzone (born March 21, 1957) is an American football coach and former player who is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League (USFL). He is former offensive co ...

, replacing him with former University of Miami offensive coordinator Dan Werner. Orgeron also hired Art Kehoe, the longtime offensive line coach at the University of Miami; both assistants had just been fired by the University of Miami. In 2006, Ole Miss finished the season ranked No. 108 in scoring offense, No. 111 in total offense, and No. 112 in passing offense. Orgeron's second recruiting class in February 2006 was successful, acquiring the written pledges of a national Top 15 signing class. He followed it with the 32nd ranked recruiting class in February 2007. At Ole Miss, Orgeron recorded only two wins against teams with winning records (the 2005 and 2007

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

teams, which both finished at 7–5)—the fewest among active SEC coaches at the time. Until the 2007 season, he enjoyed the public support of The University of Mississippi's chancellor

Robert Khayat Robert Conrad Khayat (born April 18, 1938) was the 15th Chancellor of the University of Mississippi. He also played American football as a placekicker, guard, and center for Ole Miss and in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washingt ...

and other administrators with oversight of the football program, including Athletic Director Pete Boone. In a November 2006 article in ''

The Clarion-Ledger ''The Clarion Ledger'' is an American daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second-oldest company in the state of Mississippi, and is one of the few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide. It is an operating d ...

'', Khayat said of Orgeron and the poor win–loss record since he was hired (7–14, at the time of the interview), "I think Coach Orgeron inherited a very difficult situation....I am 100 percent behind him, and I think that people ought to understand that he has a big challenge." In 2007, Ole Miss finished the season 0–8 against fellow SEC teams, and 3–9 overall. It was the program's first winless (conference) season since 1982. On November 24, 2007, after Ole Miss blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead to in-state rival

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

in the season finale, Orgeron was fired. He was replaced by former

head coach

Houston Nutt Houston Dale Nutt Jr. (born October 14, 1957) is a former American football player and coach. He currently works for CBS Sports as a college football studio analyst. Previously, he served as the head football coach at Murray State University (19 ...

, who had resigned from the Arkansas program three days after Orgeron's firing.

New Orleans Saints and Tennessee

On January 23, 2008, it was announced that Orgeron had been hired as the new defensive line coach of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. On December 31, 2008, Orgeron accepted a position with the University of Tennessee under its new head coach, former USC assistant coach and colleague

. Orgeron worked as associate head coach, recruiting coordinator, and defensive line coach.

USC (second stint)

Orgeron returned to USC's assistant coaching staff on January 12, 2010, after Kiffin resigned from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

without notice to accept the USC head coach position vacated by Pete Carroll (who had returned to head coaching in the NFL). Orgeron was one of the highest paid assistant coaches in the Pac-12 Conference, with an annual salary of $650,000. It was announced on September 29, 2013—after Lane Kiffin's firing—that Orgeron would be the interim head coach of the Trojans for the rest of the 2013 season, until athletic director

Pat Haden Patrick Capper Haden (born January 23, 1953) is the former athletic director at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles from August 2010 to June 2016. He played quarterback for the USC Trojans before playing professionally in ...

found a permanent replacement. After his experience at Ole Miss, Orgeron decided to approach his second stint as a head coach differently. Instead of resuming the intense aggressiveness he had used as a defensive line and head coach, he used a different approach this time. Orgeron applied behavioral techniques he had used on his own teenage children, in an effort to approach his USC players "like my sons". After receiving much praise for their upset win at home over highly ranked Stanford, the Trojans suffered a humiliating 35–14 defeat to cross-town-rivals

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

—for the second year in a row—on November 30, 2013. This greatly threatened Orgeron's chances of winning the permanent head coach position. The Trojans were 6–2 under Orgeron, finishing the regular season with a 9–4 record. On December 2, 2013,

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

reported that another former USC assistant coach under Pete Carroll—

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

head coach Steve Sarkisian—had accepted USC's offer to become the next Trojans head coach. After Orgeron was passed over for the job, he resigned.

LSU

On January 14, 2015, Orgeron was hired as the defensive line coach at

(LSU).

2016

On September 25, 2016, after LSU head coach

Les Miles Leslie Edwin Miles (born November 10, 1953) is a former American football coach. He most recently served as the head coach at Kansas. His head coaching career began with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, where he coached from 2001 to 2004. Following t ...

was fired following a loss to Auburn, Orgeron was named the team's interim head coach. Orgeron stated that he was going to "flip the script". He promoted tight ends coach

Steve Ensminger Steve Ensminger (born September 15, 1958) is an American football coach and former player. He is an offensive analyst at Louisiana State University (LSU). Early years and playing career Ensminger was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and attended ...

to offensive coordinator and brought back Pete Jenkins to take over as defensive line coach. Orgeron also decided to shorten practices and spend more time in the film room in order to keep players fresh. In addition, he brought the "theme of daily practices" he modeled from coach

during Orgeron's first stint as an assistant at USC. These practice days have descriptive nicknames like Tell the Truth Monday, Competition Tuesday, Turnover Wednesday, No Repeat Thursday, and Focus Friday. Under Orgeron's watch, LSU finished out the season with a 6–2 record. On November 26, 2016, LSU removed the "interim" tag from Orgeron's title and formally named him as its 32nd full-time head coach.

2017–2018

The beginning of the 2017 season saw Orgeron hire Matt Canada to be the offensive coordinator. Canada was known for an offensive playbook that was heavily based on setting skilled positions in motion prior to the snap, thus using jet sweeps often. The season began with LSU ranked in the top 15, but early losses to Mississippi State and Troy quickly found LSU unranked. However, the team went 7–2 in their remaining games, finishing the year with a 9–4 record. The 2018 season began with a season opening upset of 8th-ranked Miami, followed by another upset of 7th-ranked Auburn. These victories helped LSU rise to 5th in the CFP rankings, but a loss to 25th-ranked Florida sent LSU tumbling back to 13th. In response, the Tigers pulled off a shocking upset of No. 2 Georgia. The Tigers then avenged the previous year's loss to Mississippi State. The victories over Georgia and Mississippi State propelled LSU to being ranked No. 3 by the CFP going into a game against top-ranked Alabama. The LSU offense that had seemed to turn around after

took over the duties of offensive coordinator was unable to score against Alabama's defense. After the loss to Alabama, LSU was able to defeat Arkansas and Rice before falling to Texas A&M in a 7-overtime game. With a 9–3 record, LSU was invited to the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been pla ...

to play the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

, who had not lost a game in the previous two seasons. On New Years Day 2019, LSU gave UCF their first loss since 2016. LSU finished the 2018 season with a record of 10–3 and were ranked sixth in the nation by the AP poll and seventh by the Coaches poll. LSU was not predicted to have a good season in 2018, and some, including respected SEC commentator

Paul Finebaum Paul Finebaum is an American sports author, former columnist, and television-radio personality. His primary focus is sports, particularly those in the Southeast. After many years as a reporter, columnist, and sports-talk radio host in the Birmin ...

, believed it would be Orgeron's last. However, the successful season earned Orgeron a contract extension through the 2022 season.

2019

After opening with a home win versus Georgia Southern, Orgeron's 2019 team recorded a statement road win over

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

in week two and proceeded to go undefeated through the regular season, including a 46–41 victory over

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. A win over Arkansas in the penultimate game of the regular season clinched the SEC West division title and secured a berth in the

2019 SEC Championship Game The 2019 SEC Championship Game was a college football game played on Saturday, December 7, 2019, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The game determined the 2019 champion of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The game featured the East ...

against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. This was their first appearance in the SEC Championship Game since 2011. The traditionally defensive-minded Tigers averaged over 48 points per game, led by quarterback

Joe Burrow Joseph Lee Burrow (born December 10, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint with Ohio State, Burrow played college football at LSU, where he won the Heisma ...

, Baton Rouge-native running back

Clyde Edwards-Helaire Clyde Edwards-Helaire ( ; born April 11, 1999) is an American football running back for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at LSU and was drafted by the Chiefs in the first round of the 2020 ...

, and standout receivers

Ja'Marr Chase Ja'Marr Anthony Chase (born March 1, 2000) is an American football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at LSU, where he won the Fred Biletnikoff Award and the 2020 College F ...

and Justin Jefferson. Burrow set new LSU and SEC single-season records for passing yards with 4,366; his 44 touchdown passes set a new LSU record and tied the SEC mark. By the season's end, Burrow would go on set the NCAA single-season record for touchdown passes (60) en route to winning the Heisman Trophy. Orgeron's Tigers defeated the Georgia Bulldogs in the

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. The championship game pits the SEC East Division regular season champion against the West Division regula ...

to win their first SEC title since 2011. On Sunday, December 8, 2019, they were named the No. 1 seed in the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

. They met the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

champion

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Ru ...

in the semifinals in the

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially ...

, defeating them by a score of 63–28. Following the regular season, Orgeron was named the winner of the 2019 AP College Football Coach of the Year Award and Home Depot Coach of the Year Award. On January 13, 2020, Orgeron won his first national championship as a head coach with a win over the unbeaten defending national champion

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) s ...

, 42–25, finishing the season 15–0. Orgeron and the LSU Tigers won the national title in their home state at the

Mercedes-Benz Superdome The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saint ...

in New Orleans.

2020–2021

LSU's 2020 season was shortened in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. They played a ten-game, all-SEC schedule. LSU started the season ranked No. 6 in the AP Poll, but dropped out of the rankings after three games and finished the season with a record of 5–5. The Tigers had three different starting quarterbacks throughout the course of the season.

Myles Brennan Myles Brennan (born March 2, 1999) is a former American football quarterback. Early years Brennan attended St. Stanislaus High School in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. During his career, he set Mississippi high school career records for total offe ...

started the first three games, but was injured during the game against

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

on October 10 and was lost for the season. T. J. Finley started the next five games.

Max Johnson Max Johnson (born July 25, 2001) is an American football quarterback for the Texas A&M Aggies. Johnson attended and played high school football at Oconee County High School in Watkinsville, Georgia and began his college career at LSU before tra ...

started the final two games of the season. He led the Tigers to an upset win over the No. 6 Florida Gators in Gainesville and a shootout win over Ole Miss in the season finale. In March 2021, a woman testifying in front of Louisiana state legislators claimed that she had reported an instance of sexual harassment by LSU running back

Derrius Guice Derrius Guice ( ; born June 21, 1997) is an American football running back for the Vegas Knight Hawks of the Indoor Football League (IFL). He played college football at LSU, where he was the first player in Southeastern Conference (SEC) histor ...

to Orgeron, but that the coach had taken no action against him, and in fact called the woman and asked her to forgive Guice. In June 2021, Orgeron was added as a defendant to a

Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...

lawsuit against LSU, which alleges that the coach was told Guice had raped a student and did not report the allegation. Despite high expectations and a favorable schedule, LSU stumbled to a 3–3 start in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, losing several games in which they were favored. Following the tumultuous start, Orgeron’s Tigers were able to upend the No. 20-ranked Florida Gators in a thrilling rivalry game matchup. Despite the victory, LSU administrators announced the following day, on October 17, 2021, that they had reached a mutual agreement for Orgeron to leave the program at the end of the 2021 season. Orgeron's last game was a last-second victory against Texas A&M at home, which allowed the Tigers to finish the season at 6–6 and become bowl eligible. Despite this, Orgeron announced shortly after the game that he would not coach in the bowl game, and that offensive line coach Brad Davis would be appointed interim coach.

In media

Orgeron appears as himself in the 2009 film '' The Blind Side'' recruiting

Michael Oher Michael Jerome Oher (; né Williams Jr.; born May 28, 1986) is a former American football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Ravens. He played college football at t ...

. In 2005, Orgeron had won an intense recruiting battle for Oher. Director

John Lee Hancock John Lee Hancock Jr. (born December 15, 1956) is an American filmmaker. He directed the sports drama films '' The Rookie'' (2002) and '' The Blind Side'' (2009), and the historical drama films '' Saving Mr. Banks'' (2013), ''The Founder'' (2016) ...

contacted Orgeron about playing himself, despite having been fired by Ole Miss prior to the filming of the movie. Orgeron agreed and impressed the filmmaker with his enthusiasm. In 2006, Bruce Feldman, then a senior writer at ''

ESPN The Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998. Initially published every other week, it scaled back to 24 issues a year ...

'', was allowed in-depth access to the Ole Miss program for a book about the recruiting process at a big-time college football program. The result was 2007's ''Meat Market: Inside the Smash-Mouth World of College Football Recruiting'', a book filled with anecdotes about Orgeron, which ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' described as "one of the most insightful books ever written about college football." Orgeron was portrayed by

Emmett Skilton Emmett Skilton (born 23 September 1987) is a New Zealand actor and director. He played the lead character, Axl Johnson, in the comedy-drama, The Almighty Johnsons, and most recently had roles in Avatar: The Way of Water and American comedy s ...

in the TV series ''

Young Rock ''Young Rock'' is an American television sitcom based upon the life of professional wrestler and actor Dwayne Johnson, also known by his ring name "The Rock". The series is created by Johnson, Jeff Chiang and Nahnatchka Khan and premiered on NBC ...

'', which is about actor and former wrestler

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the developm ...

. Orgeron was Johnson's defensive line coach when Johnson played at

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. Orgeron also appears as himself in the season 1 episode ''Check Your Head''.

Personal life

Orgeron is known for his strong, gravelly,

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...

-accented voice, and intensity while coaching. In 2006, during his time at Ole Miss, he was parodied in an internet video titled "Colonel Reb is Cryin'". Orgeron was previously married to Colleen Orgeron. He met his second wife, Kelly, at the

1996 Liberty Bowl The 1996 Liberty Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 27, 1996, in Memphis, Tennessee. The 38th edition of the Liberty Bowl, it matched the Houston Cougars and the Syracuse Orangemen. Background Syracuse, who had finished as c ...

, and the couple have three boys. Upon returning to USC in 2010, Orgeron lived in a hotel across the street from the campus while his wife and children made their home in Louisiana. Orgeron is

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, but has also been reported to attend

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

churches with his family in Louisiana. Orgeron's fourth cousin, Joseph Orgeron, was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives in July 2020.

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

LSU profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orgeron, Ed 1961 births Living people American football defensive linemen Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches LSU Tigers football players McNeese State Cowboys football coaches Miami Hurricanes football coaches New Orleans Saints coaches Nicholls Colonels football coaches Northwestern State Demons football coaches Northwestern State Demons football players Ole Miss Rebels football coaches Syracuse Orange football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football coaches USC Trojans football coaches People from Lafourche Parish, Louisiana Coaches of American football from Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana Cajun sportspeople