Ed Orgeron recalls hilarious conversation with Joe Burrow's brother to help win recruitment over Cincinnati

Whether it was his thick bayou accent or his blunt and unapologetic cajun charm, Ed Orgeron didn’t lose many recruiting battles as LSU‘s head football coach. That’s especially true of the most significant one of his career — bringing Joe Burrow to Baton Rouge.

The weekend before the future Heisman Trophy winner was scheduled to make his transfer decision between his homestate Cincinnati and LSU, the then-Tigers coach pulled out all the stops to land the former Ohio State quarterback. Orgeron shared the rarely-told inside story on how he ultimately locked in Burrow’s commitment despite being unable to call or speak directly with him in final days of his May 2018 recruitment during a recent appearance on the popular Pardon My Take podcast.

“So when the parents leave, (the LSU coaches) all stay and say, ‘OK, is he coming or not?’ (They told us it was) Cincinnati, he was going to Cincinnati,” Orgeron recalled of the in-house visit to the Burrow’s Ohio family home. “But Joe said something, he said: ‘I’m not taking any phone calls and I’ll decide on Thursday.’ Do you think I was going to wait until Thursday to get in touch with Joe Burrow, when my butt’s on the line? Well, we made a connection with his brother Dan, and … we call Dan the next day and I say, ‘Dan, are you talking to Joe? … And he answers your call? … You’ve got to be my voice now, OK? … Come on, Dan, LSU or Cincinnati? It ain’t even close.’

Knowing an elite starting quarterback was all LSU’s loaded 2018 roster was missing, and with mounting pressure to win another national championship, Orgeron ramped up his uniquely cajun charm to 11, albeit with some interesting locker room language.

“Dan gives me this ol’ ‘Well, Coach, this and that,’ and I said, ‘Dan, F that! … Do you love your brother? … Hey, grab down there, son!’ I said, ‘Grab down there in your pants! You got two of ‘em, Dan?’ He goes, ‘I’m grabbing them, Coach, I’ve got ‘em.’ I said, ‘Dan, squeeze them son of a guns! … Now call your brother and tell him to come to LSU if you got two of ‘em down there, boy!’” Orgeron said, cackling at the memory. “… He was like, ‘I got ‘em, Coach, I’m squeezing them. I got ‘em!’ … He actually did it, man, this son of a gun. And Dan was our voice to call Joe.

“Now Joe says that wasn’t his deciding (factor), but I wasn’t (going to be deterred). … Somebody’s going to talk to him. You’ve got to compete. … So you’ve got to find the backdoor, you’ve got to get around. … But what a story, and then just out the blue on Thursday, I got a call from Joe Burrow saying: ‘Coach, I’m going to be a LSU Tiger.’ How about that?”

Of course, the rest is history, as Burrow would go on to lead the 2019 Tigers to the College Football Playoff national championship with a perfect 15-0 record that season. The future No. 1 overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft also set multiple FBS passing records with 60 passing touchdowns and 65 total touchdowns scored, along with 5,671 passing yards as a senior.