BATON ROUGE – Coach O is back in Baton Rouge.
Ed Orgeron is returning to LSU and will serve as the special assistant to recruiting and defense, Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin announced.
“I’m excited to bring Coach Orgeron back to LSU,” Kiffin said. “He brings us tremendous value with his ability to recruit elite players nationally, but especially the impact he can have for us recruiting the great state of Louisiana. Coach O understands my expectations and commitment to being a championship program. I look forward to seeing him with recruits and his intensity working with our defensive players.”
Orgeron returns to LSU after spending nearly six years as head coach of the Tigers, a span that saw him lead the program to a 15-0 mark and the national championship in 2019. During his time with the Tigers, Orgeron led LSU to a 51-20 overall record and the national title in 2019, but the program went 5-5 in 2020 and then 6-6 in 2021.
LSU and Orgeron agreed to a mutual buyout of his contract
In 10 years as a head coach at Ole Miss, USC (interim), and LSU, Orgeron went 67-47. His specialty is with recruiting as he earned a reputation as one of the nation’s best recruiters while working at the University of Miami under Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson, and then later at Southern Cal under Pete Carrol.
He also has worked with Kiffin at USC and then under him during his one season at Tennessee.
Orgeron is from Larose, Louisiana, and graduated from South Lafourche High School and was teammates with New Orleans Saints legend Bobby Hebert both in high school and then later at Northwestern State University.