Ed Orgeron talks coaching against his son, McNeese State

LSU head coach Ed Orgeron is tasked with a unique challenge heading into the Tigers’ Week 2 matchup with McNeese State: game planning for his son, Cody Orgeron, one of the most decorated quarterbacks in McNeese State program history.

“I’m watching the film, and I’m kind of cheering for Cody, but I’ve got to stop McNeese which is a little bit different,” Orgeron said through his laughter on ESPN 104.5 Baton Rouge. “He had a pretty good game last week.”

Orgeron, a sixth-year senior for the Cowboys, has been the program’s starting quarterback since midway through 2018. Last spring, in the FCS’ delayed 2021 season, Orgeron was a two-time SLC Offensive Player of the Week and led McNeese in the season opener to one of its largest comebacks in school history, scoring 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime, then registered a 19-yard touchdown run to send it into double overtime.

Cody ranks ninth in McNeese State program history with 4,336 career passing yards, sixth with 35 career passing touchdowns and eighth with 371 career completions.

“I love him, I love Frank [Wilson, McNeese’s head coach], I love McNeese, it’s a great school,” Orgeron said. “But you know what, there’s a formula this week, and it’s a game that we must win, so we’re going to go out there and play our best football.”

Cody, on the other hand, will have to face three family members on Saturday: his father, LSU’s head coach, and both of his brothers, Tyler and Parker, who are both on LSU’s coaching staff.

“You know, they were able to come to the spring games so I was able to ask them what they thought and stuff and they would give me their feedback,” Cody Orgeron said. “My dad called me this morning as he was watching our film against West Florida this morning telling me I made some good plays and he’s proud of me too, but he’s game-planning against me too, so he’s not going to tell me all my weaknesses you know he’s going to try to expose them a little bit. I am going to try to do the same as well so it’s going to be fun.”

While Cody Orgeron and the McNeese State Cowboys are coming off a 42-36 loss to West Florida last Saturday, the LSU Tigers — who have fallen out of the AP top-25 — are coming off a tough loss of their own, falling 38-27 to the UCLA Bruins.