Ed Orgeron needs to do things differently in his second go-around as a head coach. However, he must still lean on his strength as a recruiter to win at LSU.
When LSU promoted Ed Orgeron to full-time head coach on Nov. 26, the Tigers knew exactly what they were doing. While pursuing head coaches like Jimbo Fisher and Tom Herman were logical options, removing the interim tag on Orgeron might have been the best course of action.
Orgeron is a native Louisianan from Larose. He played his college ball at Northwestern State in Natchitoches in the early 1980s. He has coached in-state at McNeese State, Nichols State, and with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints. Orgeron with his thick Cajun accent may not sound and look like a Power 5 head coach, but he feels perfect for LSU.
In more than 30 years in football, Orgeron has cemented a reputation as a strong defensive line coach and one of the best recruiters of his generation. From landing Cortez Kennedy at Miami to Michael Oher at Ole Miss, Orgeron can bring Inc elite talent. Wherever he’s coaching, top high school athletes want to play for Orgeron.
While his first stint as head coach at Ole Miss (2005-07) was a disaster, there is a reason to believe that things will be different in LSU. At Ole Miss, Orgeron inherited a mess in the wake of the David Cutcliffe era in Oxford when quarterback Eli Manning wasn’t appropriately replaced.
Wanting to bring the spread offense of the USC Trojans to Oxford, Orgeron failed to realize that type of aerial attack was too hit-or-miss to work in the SEC consistently. Ole Miss never won more than four games under Orgeron. He was fired in 2007 and replaced by Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Houston Nutt.
This time around, Orgeron has wisely aligned himself with a pro-style offensive coordinator in Matt Canada. Canada has worked at Indiana, Northern Illinois, Wisconsin, and Pittsburgh running a pro-style attack. Orgeron accepts that offense is not his forte and will smartly delegate offensive play calling to Canada.
While he is a strong and passionate defensive coach, it is his undeniable strength as a recruiter that has long set Orgeron apart. He has the potential to get the most out of the elite football talent in Louisiana like nobody before him, including his predecessor Les Miles.
LSU has the resources and recruiting base to be the most formidable program in college football. LSU is the only Power 5 program in Louisiana. There is more football talent per person in Louisiana than in any state in the country. Louisiana only has 4.65 million people residing in the state. The amount of football talent coming out of it annually is borderline absurd.
Power 5 programs are able to poach some talent out of Louisiana. However, most elite prospects from the state have always envisioned themselves playing for the Tigers. While Miles was great for a long time in Baton Rouge, he lost homegrown players, notably Landon Collins, Cam Robinson and 2017 recruit Dylan Moses. However, the galvanizing nature of Orgeron could make LSU the terrifying blue-blood it deserves to be.
It’s not just players who take a liking to Orgeron. He is beloved by many in the coaching world. For this reason, Orgeron can put together the coaching staff he needs to succeed in the SEC. Having roots in the Jimmy Johnson and Pete Carroll coaching trees only aid in Orgeron’s elite recruiting efforts, staff and player personnel.
While both are SEC West schools, LSU is a much easier sell than Ole Miss is for sustained football excellence. That means Orgeron doesn’t have to work twice as hard to get guys to his program. He can channel his focus in surrounding himself with the best offensive minds and talent he can find. Defensive prowess and talent recognition on that side of the ball comes naturally to Orgeron.
Unless there is some well-constructed succession plan in Tuscaloosa, Orgeron’s biggest threat in Saban’s Alabama program isn’t going to dominate in perpetuity. Saban is 65 years old. Eventually, Alabama will loosen its stranglehold of a grip on the SEC. That is where Orgeron and his LSU program can rise.
In his first season at LSU, Orgeron went 6-2 and won the Citrus Bowl over Bobby Petrino’s Louisville Cardinals. Petrino is a great offensive mind with 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson at quarterback. Orgeron didn’t have his best offensive weapon in running back Leonard Fournette and still won the bowl game anyway.
According to 247Sports, LSU has the No. 6 recruiting class heading into National Signing Day 2017. Programs with head coaches in their first year don’t typically land top-10 classes. It’s a testament to Orgeron’s recruiting efforts, as well as the blue-blood nature of the LSU program.
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Protecting Louisiana’s recruiting borders is the best thing Orgeron can do for LSU. He can pick who he wants to come play for the Tigers out-of-state. However, he may be the coach that can unite the best players that Louisiana has to offer. In doing so, he can turn LSU into the national powerhouse it always should have been.