Matt Leinart pitches Ed Orgeron to return as LSU head coach

The LSU coaching search has begun after the Tigers fired former head coach Brian Kelly on Sunday night. Matt Leinart already has the perfect replacement in mind: LSU’s former national championship-winning head coach Ed Orgeron.

Leinart took to social media on Monday to put it simply — “There’s only one man for the LSU job.” Attached was a gif of Orgeron saying, “We comin’.”

There’s only one man for the LSU job…… pic.twitter.com/NDP6czveik

— Matt Leinart (@MattLeinartQB) October 27, 2025

Orgeron has been out of the coaching industry since being fired from LSU in 2021. The decision to remove him from his post came less than two calendar years removed from his 2019 national championship alongside Joe Burrow and company.

While it’s unlikely the Tigers would turn back to Orgeron after all this time, it’s clear that the former college football coach wants to get back into coaching. He even said as much during a recent interview with On3’s Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman.

“I’m not gonna take anything, and not everybody’s gonna take me,” Orgeron told On3. “So, it may be a head coach job. It may be a defensive line job with someone that I believe can win a championship… I’m a championship coach and I’m gonna bring a winning program to their university.”

Despite being fired, Orgeron said that he left LSU with no regrets and put it plainly: “You can’t have two losing seasons at LSU.” He set the standard with the 15-0 season in 2019, and the results afterward were anything but. LSU finished 5-5 in 2020 and 6-6 in 2021 under his guidance.

Still, he believes LSU was fair to him on the way out. He agreed to a buyout of nearly $17 million at the time, which was set to pay him in monthly installments through Dec. 2025. That means if Leinart’s prediction comes true — Orgeron would technically never have left the LSU payroll.

For now, Frank Wilson has been elevated to interim head coaching status at LSU. While the Tigers look to salvage the rest of their 5-3 season, the LSU brass will move forward with the team’s coaching search.

Many big-time coaching names around college football has been discussed for the position. Though, only time will tell who will actually get it. Fans likely won’t have to wait long once the season concludes to meet their next coach.

LSU still has four games left on its regular season schedule before it can get there, and is one win away from qualifying for a bowl game. Next up will be a tough one — a road matchup at No. 4 Alabama. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET live on ABC.