The Ed Orgeron era at LSU is over.
Orgeron, who was fired in mid-October, coached his last game for the Tigers, a 27-24 win over Jimbo Fisher and No. 15 Texas A&M at College Station. He announced after the game that he would not lead the Tigers (6-6) in their bowl game, instead heading to Destin, Fla., with his girlfriend.
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“I told everyone I wished them luck,” Orgeron said during his post-game press conference. “I’m not going to sit here and coach when someone else comes in as head coach this week or the week after. I will not do that.
“This is my team and as soon as they have a new head coach, I’m leaving.”
Offensive team coach Brad Davis will serve as interim coach until LSU finds a long-term replacement for Orgeron. He then ended his tenure in Baton Rouge with an SEC championship (2019), a College Football Playoff national championship (2019), a 51-20 record and a 20-12 vs. Top 25 teams. The only LSU coach with the most ranking wins was the man Orgeron replaced, Les Miles (42-23).
Orgeron also went 2-2 ahead of Fisher, the coach of which LSU athletic director Scott Woodward reported advocate replacing Orgeron as the head of Baton Rouge. That victory came from a 28-yard reception to Jaray Jenkins from Max Johnson to take a 27-24 lead with 20 seconds of the game remaining. Jenkins finished the day with 8 catches for 169 yards and 2 points. Johnson completed 22 of 38 passes for 306 yards and three points.
“I can’t say enough about our team, can’t say enough about our 19 seniors,” Orgeron told reporters after the game. “We always talk about keep fighting and something good will happen. How to end that match. Those people keep fighting and trusting each other. I can’t say enough about sunbaenim. and our team. Those guys fought back and we knew it was going to be a battle.”
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While the ending couldn’t have been more ideal for his LSU career, Orgeron helped give LSU one of the greatest seasons of all time, if not the greatest college football season of all. age. The 2019 LSU Tigers featured one of the top offenses of all time, capped by a record-breaking performance all season by Heisman Trophy award-winning quarterback Joe Burrow.
But not only have the Tigers not been able to repeat that success in 2020 (5-5) or ’21 (6-6), but they have also failed to improve by more than 500 under Orgeron, despite having one of the teams. richest talent in college football. . Off-field problems, coupled with his failure to succeed in football, contributed to Orgeron’s sacking, less than two eliminations from the 2019 national championship.
With his tenure now completed, Orgeron holds the record for shortest time from winning the national championship to being fired. The previous record holder was Auburn coach Gene Chizik, who was fired 686 days after leading the Tigers to the 2010 national championship. Orgeron was fired 685 days after leading LSU to a national championship. victory over Clemson to win the CFP 2019 championship.
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That said, Orgeron – who opened his last press conference by saying, “How ‘these tigers, child? “ – good luck to his team and the next coach:
“I hope they go to a great bowl,” said Orgeron. “I know Brad Davis is going to do an amazing job and whoever the new coach is, I wish them all the best in the world. I will always be an LSU Tiger fan. ”
The most pressing question facing Woodward is who to choose to replace Orgeron in Baton Rouge. Fisher is his reported leader, considering he hired him at Texas A&M while he was still athletic director at College Station. Another option reported is Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley, who explicitly denied interest in the job following the team’s 37-33 loss to Oklahoma State in Bedlam on Saturday. “I’m not going to be the next head coach at LSU.”
