Ed Orgeron owes ex-wife $8 million of LSU buyout after Louisiana Supreme Court ruling

Former LSU head coach Ed Orgeron must pay ex-wife Kelly Orgeron half of his buyout, approximately $8.13 million, from his 2021 firing following a Friday ruling by the Louisiana Supreme Court, according to the Baton Rouge Advocate.

The highest court in Orgeron’s homestate of Louisiana cited contract language in the 2020 extension he signed on Jan. 14, 2020, when he and his ex-wife were still married. Orgeron filed for divorce 43 days after signing the deal, according to The Advocate. The extension included a hefty buyout language that ultimately awarded him $17 million upon his firing in 2021.

“The coach, and his wife, were given the comfort, the assurance, the confidence, and the peace of mind, that even if his coaching was terribly unsuccessful, or even if for other reasons that could not be labeled as ‘for cause,’ the school felt the need to part ways, he would not do so empty handed,” Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Jefferson Hughes wrote on behalf of the majority in a 5-2 ruling, per The Advocate.

“This comfort and peace of mind inured to the benefit of both husband and wife in the college football coaching business,” Hughes’ statement continued. “Because this security blanket was provided for in the Employment Agreement, effective during the community, it was community property as would be any other community asset.”

Orgeron famously led LSU to the 2020 College Football Playoff national championship behind an elite roster of talent led by quarterback Joe Burrow. But the next season, after much of that talent moved onto the NFL, the Tigers struggled through a 3-3 start in a disappointing 2021 campaign. Midway through the regular season, LSU officials announced that season would be Orgeron’s last with the program, and he left the team following a last-second victory over rival Texas A&M in the regular-season finale that earned the Tigers bowl eligibility.

According to the Advocate, Kelly Orgeron’s attorney made the case she was entitled to half of his buyout since it was finalized while the pair were still married, and the raise — which bumped up Orgeron’s annual salary to roughly $7 million — was partially compensation for past performance during the time they were married.

For his part, Orgeron’s attorney argued his 2021 extension was compensation for future work at LSU, and thus shouldn’t be considered as part of their post-divorce settlement, according to The Advocate. Both a district court and an appeals court initially ruled in the former LSU coach’s favor in the dispute prior to the Louisiana Supreme Court agreeing to hear arguments in the case.