Ed Orgeron shares story behind USC interim job, path to LSU

Ed Orgeron shared a fascinating inside look at his journey from USC to LSU after he was passed over as head coach of the Trojans following an interim stint. The Trojans had fired Lane Kiffin that season after five games. You’ll want to buckle up for this story, as told by Orgeron on Bussin’ With The Boys.

“Let’s backtrack to USC, okay, we beat, I think Arizona, we go to Notre Dame, and we lose to Notre Dame,” Orgeron said. “Okay, well, Pat Haden was a Notre Dame fanatic … Well, when I ran off that field, I took that job at USC like I was going to be the interim coach for a little bit. Okay, when I left that field, I said, You know what? F-that. I’m gonna be the head coach from now on. And we won on tear man, we won like, five games in a row, and the Friday before the UCLA game, he brings me and my wife in, shows me the contract. It a $12 million contract back then for four years. He tells my wife to stay. We have a press conference on Tuesday. He’s going to hire me. Okay? My kids come, man, but we lose to UCLA, which is, I understand, we didn’t play well. 

“My kids get on the plane crying. My wife stays with me. He never calls me on Sunday … He told me he’s gonna call me Sunday night, full time … The call never came … Next morning, told my wife, I said, get us a plane, we’re going to go take care of some business. Me and him had a meeting. I slammed that door and I told him, I said, beside the day my father died, this is the worst day of my life.”

Ed Orgeron recalls journey from USC to LSU

At that point of his career, Orgeron was at USC from 1998-2004 as an assistant and associate head coach, as well as 2010-13 as the defensive coordinator and eventual interim head coach. He had poured his heart and soul into the job, as he described it, but things changed on a dime when No. 23 USC lost to No. 22 UCLA at the Rose Bow, 35-14.

“So we have a team meeting,” Orgeron said. “It was like a funeral, because all the things I said I do, become like their father. They love me, my team. I said, you know this, USC is the best place for you. I still wanna pull for you. You are at a great place. They got a coach coming in. Y’all respect him … They jumped the tables and they were crying. They were hugging me and shaking me why. They were looking at why?Just like the dad we never had, man … I go to the airport. And I’m crying. That was my family. I’ve been there. I lived in the Radisson. I lived in the Radisson for four years across the street. My family stayed in Vanderbilt, Louisiana. I was by myself. I’d go from the Radisson to USC.”

Ed Orgeron was inching closer to eventual coaching glory

The plane ride for Coach O wasn’t great for himself, being as emotional as he was. But Orgeron was told there was a higher power and a bigger plan in the future.

“So anyway, so we get on a plane. This is my ex wife and so she goes ‘Why are you so sad,’” Orgeron said. “We got the USC job pulled off. ‘God has a better plan.’ It better be good. We just lost the USC job baby … That was a great time in my life man. I always wanted to be the head coach at LSU or USC, and that was a hard deal for me to lead that place. So I took a year off of coaching, but that year off of coaching, I got to see my sons play football, and I never watched them play football. 

“Cody’s the quarterback, Parker’s the receiver. We went to the semifinals. It was just a wonderful year. I coached with my kids man, it was good. It was really a year that I needed. And then I went to LSU with Les Miles.” 

Ed Orgeron works his way to LSU head coaching gig

Orgeron knew something was up with Miles and the administration when he got there. After the 2015 season, there was pressure for Miles to deliver another title in ‘16. But a season-opening loss to Wisconsin opened the door for Orgeron, as he was told behind the scenes.

Sure enough, as he was told, Orgeron became the interim head coach after LSU lost to Auburn and fell to 2-2 in 2016. He took over and went 6-2 the rest of the way.

“We lost the game, and I like coach Miles is great, but I’m like, this is weird,” Orgeron said. “Okay, so I’ll go on the bus. ‘Meet me at the such and such station when y’all get off the plane.’ Okay, I go to a place. We stayed there til six o’clock in the morning, they gave me the blueprint. Here’s what needs to be done, here’s how it has to be done, here’s what we expect. And there was nothing about anybody officially from LSU, right? I mean, it was just like T Boy and his cousin. So I go to work the next day … So we get a staff meeting. We sit down there. Nobody knows anything except me, it was weird as hell.”

Orgeron made his time count of course. He went 9-4 at LSU in 2017, 10-3 the following year and had a magical 2019. That season, the Tigers went 15-0, won the College Football Playoff National Championship, had Heisman QB Joe Burrow and a plethora of NFL talent across the roster. Orgeron’s Tigers that year are considered one of the greatest college football teams of the 21st century.

Now, it remains to be seen what happens with Orgeron these days. He hasn’t coached since parting ways with LSU in 2021 after going 11-11 after the title victory. But he could come back as an assistant because he loves ball!