By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU head football coach Lane Kiffin is getting some of his old band back together.
Kiffin, who brought several members from his more recent band to LSU from his Ole Miss head coaching job after last season, is now bringing back Ed Orgeron, who coached under him at USC from 2010-13 and at Tennessee in 2009 and with him at USC earlier in the 2000s.
Orgeron, who was head coach of the greatest team in LSU history in 2019 as the Tigers won the national championship at 15-0, will be a special assistant at LSU for defense and recruiting – his two specialties throughout his career as a coach since the 1980s. Orgeron, 64, was LSU’s head coach from the 2016 season through 2021 and was Ole Miss’ head coach from 2005-07.
Orgeron has signed a one-year contract for a salary of $100,000. His yearly salary was approximately $9 million during his last season as coach in 2021. He received a buyout of $17 million after being fired that season that he collected through installments until only last December. Orgeron will be able to coach LSU on the field in practice and at games and will also make recruiting trips.
“I’m excited to bring Coach Orgeron back to LSU,” Kiffin said in an LSU release. “He brings us tremendous value with his ability to recruit elite players nationally, but especially the impact he can have for us recruiting the great state of Louisiana. Coach O understands my expectations and commitment to being a championship program. I look forward to seeing him with recruits and his intensity working with our defensive players.”
Kiffin spoke fondly of Orgeron during his introductory press conference on Dec. 1 at LSU, and many thought at the time Kiffin would soon hire Orgeron.
“Actually we were going by Tiger Stadium, and I called one person,” Kiffin said at the time. “I called Ed Orgeron, and I said, ‘Hey, man, this place just makes me want to talk like you right now.’ I did.”
Kiffin then started talking in a Cajun accent like Orgeron, a native of Larose on Bayou Lafourche.
“We were in the car Sunday, and the kids were in there, and the coaches and the kids are like, ‘What are you doing?’ And I said, I don’t know, I’m channeling Ed right now,” Kiffin said. “I’m feeling him. I rolled down the window, and I was, like, ‘Geaux Tiguhs’ to the fans. I called Ed and said, ‘I don’t know, man, I’m feeling you right now.’”
Orgeron answered and made Kiffin feel even better about a decision that tore him up for weeks.
“He’s like, ‘Coach, you’re at the best place in America,’” Kiffin said. “I feel that.”
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