Ed Orgeron reveals whether Lane Kiffin asked him to join LSU staff

Ed Orgeron has made it clear he’d welcome a return to LSU as an assistant working under new Tigers head coach and longtime friend Lane Kiffin. Unfortunately, that call hasn’t come yet.

Orgeron, the barrel-chested national championship-winning former LSU head coach, revealed he’s yet to hear from Kiffin about potentially returning to the Baton Rouge sidelines during a recent appearance on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast with co-hosts Will Compton and Taylor Lewan.

“He had asked me, he called last year, he was going to get (another) job, and he wanted to know if I wanted to (join him on staff). I said: ‘You know what, I’m not ready yet,'” Orgeron told Compton and Lewan. “He had called (recently), he said: ‘What do you think about LSU?’ And I gave him nothing but rave reviews. But it never came through, like he never called and said, ‘Do you want to come?’ I never called him and said, ‘I want to go.’ He knew I was planning to get back into coaching. Would LSU be a good fit with him (as the head coach)? Do I think so? Yes.

“But as a head coach, when you’re going into a situation like that, you’ve got to feel out the lay of the land and do what’s best for you. So, he’s got his defensive staff. He hasn’t called me, which is good. I wish him the best of luck.”

Following last month’s chaotic exit from Ole Miss, one of Kiffin’s first moves was to retain LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker, who turned down a potential head coaching opportunity at Tulane to stay in Baton Rouge and become college football’s highest-paid coordinator with an average annual salary of $3 million.

Lane Kiffin channels Ed Orgeron, reveals call from former LSU coach after landing in Baton Rouge

That reality aside, Orgeron was clearly on Kiffin’s mind when he first landed in Baton Rouge on Nov. 30, even channeling the beloved Louisiana native’s thick Cajun accent during his introductory press conference a day later while recalling a conversation he had with Orgeron on the drive into town.

“We were going by Tiger Stadium. … I called Ed Orgeron, I said, ‘Hey, man, this place just makes me want to talk like you right now,’ (and) I did,” Kiffin said during his introductory presser. “We were in the car, and the kids were in there, and … the coaches (where like,) ‘What are you doing?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know. I’m like, channeling Ed right now.’

“I was like, ‘I’m feeling him,'” Kiffin continued. “Like, I rolled down the window, and I was like, ‘Go Tigahs!’ to the fans. So I called Ed, I said, ‘I don’t know what’s going on, man, but I’m feeling you right now.’”

— On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this report.