LSU’s Ed Orgeron addresses USC head coaching vacancy

LSU head coach Ed Orgeron knows the USC program well after spending over a decade with the Trojans. But the Louisiana native thinks there’s no better place to coach college football than Baton Rouge. 

“One of the top jobs in the country,” Orgeron said about USC on Wednesday during the SEC coaches weekly teleconference. “It’s a great place, great tradition, great school. I enjoyed my 11 years there at USC. Whoever gets that job is going to recruit Los Angeles. It should be a great job for someone, but I’ll tell you what, ain’t nothing like being at the LSU Tigers.”

Now in his sixth year in Baton Rouge, Orgeron is 46-15 with a 2019 national championship. After going 5-5 last season, discussions surrounding his future at LSU are brewing, and they were aided by an opening weekend 38-27 trouncing at the Rose Bowl against UCLA. The Tigers beat Orgeron’s son, Cody, and McNeese State last weekend, but a daunting SEC West schedule (plus crossover games with Florida and Kentucky) awaits.

The head coaching job at USC opened up Monday after athletic director Mike Bohn announced the school would be parting ways with Clay Helton. It is one of the true blue blood programs in the country, so the rumor mill is working vigorously to predict who might take over in Los Angeles. Top candidates include Penn State’s James Franklin and Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell. Bohn was previously the athletic director at Cincinnati and hired Fickell in 2017.

Orgeron’s USC tenure ended in an awkward manner

Orgeron had two coaching stints at USC. The first was from 1998-2004. He started as a defensive line coach under Paul Hackett and was kept on the staff when Pete Carroll arrived in Los Angeles. Orgeron added recruiting coordinator to his resume in 2001 and was named an assistant head coach in 2003. USC won the national championship in 2003 and 2004, although the 2004 title was later vacated. 

Orgeron’s 2004 defense led the Pac-12, allowing just 272.8 yards and 12.5 points per game. 

The Louisiana native left USC to become the head coach at Ole Miss from 2005-2007. He spent two years as a defensive line coach with the New Orleans Saints and with Tennessee before returning to USC in 2010. 

From 2010 to 2013 Orgeron served as defensive coordinator under then-head coach Lane Kiffin. When Kiffin was fired in September 2013, Orgeron took over as interim head coach. He went 6-2 and led the team to a Top-25 finish at No. 19. When Orgeron was passed over to become the permanent head coach in favor of current Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, he resigned. 

Orgeron became LSU’s defensive line coach in 2015 and was named interim head coach following the firing of former LSU head coach Les Miles. Orgeron was made permanent in his position in November of that season.