Ed Orgeron describes the moment when it all changed for Joe Burrow at LSU

On3 imageby:Steve Samra01/15/22

SamraSource

Ed Orgeron struck gold in bringing Joe Burrow to LSU. However, he wasn’t always the revered quarterback that will live on in Tigers history forever.

In an appearance on Postseason NFL Countdown, Orgeron described the moment it all changed for Burrow at LSU.

“The first thing I want to tell you — the recruiting visit, he didn’t want to do anything but talk football and eat crawfish,” started Orgeron. “I said we can do that. We had a football meeting on Saturday, and there were six of us in the meeting. It took me five minutes to figure out that Joe Burrow was the smartest guy in the meeting. That was including me and all my coaches. And I was happy. But you know what — his confidence level increased as he became a player at LSU. We beat Georgia, the No. 2 team in the country — it became his team.

“But here’s where I think the turnaround happened. We’re playing in the Fiesta Bowl – New Year’s Day Bowl, big Bowl for LSU – we’re playing UCF. They’re won a bunch of games in a row. Joe Burrow gets hit. It’s a blindside hit. I call timeout, I want a targeting penalty. And I said hey, get the second-strong quarterback – Myles Brennan – ready. And Joe gets up and he used a couple of words that I’m not going to say on TV. He said that ain’t happening. And we went down to score for the next three series.

“That became his football team. Gave his team confidence in his toughness and ability to lead the team.”

In the end, Burrow led the Tigers to a 40-32 victory over UCF in the aforementioned Fiesta Bowl. The star quarterback passed for 394 yards and four touchdowns. It was the beginning of something special.

Orgeron on Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase: ‘Those two guys hooked up and they were unstoppable.’

As Burrow readies for his first NFL playoff game, Orgeron will be watching with a keen eye on his former quarterback. Additionally, the former LSU coach will be watching another former Tigers star as well — wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase.

The duo have rekindled their college connection at the professional level. Continuing, Orgeron stated how the relationship between the duo developed at LSU.

“I think Joe had to earn his way here at LSU. He came here to compete and he was the fourth string quarterback. .. Won the team over with his toughness. With his grit,” stated Orgeron. “Ja’Marr Chase was just an excellent football player with an excellent work ethic when he came here. Those two guys hooked up and they were unstoppable.”

Burrow and Chase were unstoppable at LSU, and now they’ve been unstoppable in the NFL with the Bengals. They got Orgeron a ring, and now Bengals coach Zac Taylor hopes they’ll get him one as well.