Ed Orgeron is back at LSU. Here’s what his boisterous personality has meant for the Tigers.
On Monday morning at the Charles McClendon Practice Facility, Ed Orgeron was finally silent.
An illness had left the boisterous Orgeron unavailable for LSU’s ninth preseason practice. Coach Lane Kiffin sent him home that day, but Kiffin doesn’t expect his gregarious assistant coach to stay quiet for much longer.
“I’m trying to find a word; I don’t know,” Ole Miss transfer edge rusher Princewill Umanmielen said when asked about Orgeron. “He was loud though, that’s what I can say… he was real passionate.”
After four seasons away from the sidelines, Orgeron is back at LSU for a second stint with the program.
He spent six seasons at LSU in his first tenure, arriving as the defensive line coach and eventually finishing his first year as the interim head coach. He was then LSU’s head coach for the next five seasons, leading the Tigers to a national championship in 2019 before an 11-11 record over his last two campaigns ultimately ended his tenure in 2021.
Orgeron did not take another coaching job after his dismissal from LSU. He returns to Baton Rouge as Kiffin’s special assistant to recruiting and defense, and has maintained a strong relationship with Kiffin since he worked under him as an assistant coach at Southern Cal and Tennessee from 2009-13.
His recruiting chops — arguably his strongest asset during his initial tenure — have already helped LSU since he officially returned in May.
“We have a background,” Kiffin said, “and it’s pretty easy for him to sit and sell to a kid why to come to LSU and why to play for his head coach, more than anyone else on the planet could sell, so it’s really just a perfect situation.”
As a coach, Orgeron can be heard barking orders at practice, mostly directing his words toward an LSU defensive line that is talented but young heading into this season. Freshmen Lamar Brown, Richard Anderson and Deuce Geralds all have a chance to earn significant snaps out of the gates.
Orgeron has also been an asset for a defensive line coaching room that is mostly filled with new faces.
“Obviously, his bread and butter is the defensive line. Just giving (us) a different set of eyes,” defensive coordinator Blake Baker, who worked under Orgeron for a season at LSU as his linebackers coach, said. “But I think all those guys work really well together: (Interior defensive line coach) Kevin Peoples and (defensive line coach) Sterling Lucas and (assistant defensive line/pass rush specialist coach Lou Spanos) and (defensive line assistant) De’Andre Williams.
“We have a really, really good group of defensive line coaches. And he’s done a good job kind of feeling his way in there.”
Orgeron’s impact this preseason has been felt beyond the defensive line. Baker says that his ability to see things from a “big picture point of view” has helped, and his rambunctious nature has even been felt on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage.
“Coach O is probably the loudest coach I’ve ever heard,” Colorado transfer left tackle Jordan Seaton said. “But he’s also the funnest, and he means business. He means well.”
Orgeron’s return isn’t just a feel-good story. It’s not meant to be a swan song for the 65-year-old coach either. He’s back in Baton Rouge with the same fire and energy that helped deliver a national championship just seven years ago.
Monday’s bug will only keep him quiet for so long.
“I like that he just doesn’t take — excuse my French — but he doesn’t take BS,” Seaton said. “And I think we need that from all our coaches, and he’s a big part of that. He’d been in this program before, so he knows what it looks like to win.”