Fansided

College Football Rumors: Ed Orgeron to coach defensive line at Alabama?

By Patrick Schmidt

Oct 10, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans interim coach Ed Orgeron at press conference after the game against the Arizona Wildcats at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC defeated Arizona 38-31. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 10, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans interim coach Ed Orgeron at press conference after the game against the Arizona Wildcats at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC defeated Arizona 38-31. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Ed Orgeron
Oct 10, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans interim coach Ed Orgeron at press conference after the game against the Arizona Wildcats at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC defeated Arizona 38-31. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

The Alabama Crimson Tide made waves around the college football world when they hired former USC Trojans head coach Lane Kiffin on Friday to be the team’s offensive coordinator replacing Doug Nussmeier.

Two days later Nick Saban could be prepared to hire the coach who replaced Kiffin–on an interim basis–Ed Orgeron to be the team’s new defensive line coach.

With former defensive line coach Chris Rumph leaving to take the same job with the Texas Longhorns on Saturday, the speculation that Orgeron could come back to the SEC with Alabama is already running rampant.

Orgeron went 6-2 at the interim coach for USC and had many wondering aloud if he would have the interim tag dropped and be the head coach in 2014 and beyond.

When the job went to Steve Sarkisian an outraged Orgeron resigned despite an offer to be the assistant head coach and one of the nation’s highest paid assistants. Still unemployed and without much interest for a head coaching job, could Orgeron be enticed to come to T-Town and join Saban’s staff and once again call Kiffin a co-worker?

Orgeron has long been considered one of the best recruiters in the country along with being one of the better defensive line coaches around. He has ties to the SEC after serving as the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels and Kiffin’s associate  head coach/defensive line coach/recruiting coordinator with the Tennessee Volunteers.

A potential addition of Orgeron would give Alabama a stable of former college head coaches on Saban’s staff joining Kiffin, Mario Cristobal and Bobby Williams and would make Alabama a virtual lock to have the top recruiting class in 2015.

If not Orgeron, Al.com suggests Kevin Steele who turned down the offer to be Bobby Petrino’s defensive coordinator at Louisville, and it’s been rumored he did so with the promise of an on-field position this season.

In addition to Steele, Alabama linebackers coach Lance Thompson also has experience coaching the defensive line at Tennessee and Georgia Tech.

However, what those two boast in continuity with the staff and personnel, neither would be as intriguing or present as much upside as an Orgeron hire.

Is an Orgeron hire a strong possibility? Maybe, maybe not, but who had Kiffin as Alabama’s offensive coordinator three days ago?

Home/College Football