Light the Fire, throw them into the fire.............. LSU's Ed Orgeron coaches with a Louisiana state of mind: Ron Higgins By Ron Higgins, NOLA.com | on August 18, 2015 On the occasions when things have gone awry during LSU first-year defensive line coach Ed Orgeron's larger-than-life career, the Larose native always came home to South Louisiana to re-group. Like when his LSU playing days lasted the first two weeks of the 1979 preseason camp before he decided he didn't want to be a 6-2, 245-pound center. He wanted to play defense, the Tigers' coaches felt otherwise, so he left. "I made it all the way to media day," Orgeron said Sunday appropriately reminiscing on the Tigers' media day. "They gave me jersey No. 54. That was the only day in my life I wore No. 54. I didn't even remember that until last month on my birthday when I blew out 54 candles." He came home from quitting LSU to work at the Lafourche Phone Company before soon reuniting with high school teammate Bobby Hebert at Northwestern State. After Orgeron's junior season when his play and his grades were on a downward slope, he spent the summer at home working on a shrimp boat. "I didn't miss a class the next semester after shoveling shrimp," Orgeron said. When his fast track coaching career came to an abrupt halt at Miami in 1993 because of off-the-field legal problems, he retreated to the bayou where his late father Ed Sr. pointed him in the right direction. "My Dad never quit encouraging me," Orgeron said. "He said, 'You'll get it back. And the next time you get it back, it'll be better than it's ever been before.'" After Orgeron was mercifully fired at the end of the 2007 season following three SEC wins in three years as Ole Miss' head coach – he hadn't yet developed the emotional polish required of the modern-day CEO/head coach – he became the Saints' defensive line coach. Finally, after USC athletic director Pat Haden passed on hiring Orgeron as head coach after an older, wiser and calmer Coach O went 6-2 in 2013 as the interim field boss who replaced the fired Lane Kiffin, he moved back to Mandeville. "If Coach (Ed Orgeron) could put on pads he would." -- LSU defensive tackle Quentin Thomas He exhaled, enjoyed being a full-time dad and accepted that a year away from the caffeine and Red Bull-fueled race he'd been running for 30 years wasn't a bad thing. "It's added 10 years to my coaching career," he said of the unexpected sabbatical. It's a career that has re-started in about as perfect a way as Orgeron could imagine – at the place he revered as a youngster in the state that has been his rock. "I've coached here and I've coached there," Orgeron said, "but I always wanted to be a coach at LSU. I always felt I would end up here. I didn't know when." It's no secret that affable Orgeron, with his gravely Cajun-tinged voice and swarthy looks, has been one of college football's best recruiters for decades. "He recruited me when he was at USC and he almost had me convinced to go to USC," said LSU defensive tackle Greg Gilmore of Hope Mills, N.C. "He comes on strong, he comes on straight. He says, 'We need you, we want you, we're going to throw you in the fire and give you a chance.'" Orgeron's previous allegiances were based on being true to his employer du jour. LSU is vastly different. Not only are these Orgeron's folk – he often speaks French at LSU alumni meetings – but it is a school burned into his soul at an early age. "I've grown up all my life watching great defenses to play at LSU," Orgeron said. "Ronnie Estay (a ferocious first-team all-America defensive tackle on three of LSU's best defenses from 1969-71) is my cousin. He was my idol. When he played, everybody stopped and watched him. Nobody will ever forget the way he played against Notre Dame that night in Tiger Stadium (a 28-8 victory over the No. 7 Fighting Irish in 1971). "And I loved watching Pete Jenkins when he was LSU's defensive line coach. He had so many great linemen. "I wanted to coach the way he coached. When I was a young coach first starting out, I once spent 12 hours with him at a Holiday Inn, from 8 in the morning until midnight, watching him break down a defensive tape. "He didn't even know my name. He said, 'What's your name?' I said, 'My name is Bebe (Orgeron's nickname pronounced Bay-bay) and I want to be a defensive line coach. He said, 'OK.'"
More........ Jump to 2013 when USC defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Orgeron was suddenly named as Kiffin's replacement. Knowing he couldn't juggle three jobs, Orgeron called Jenkins and hired him for the last eight games. "Pete Jenkins is going to go down as the greatest assistant coach in the history of football," Orgeron said. "That's how much I love him. He's a great teacher. He's passionate." Orgeron is a carbon copy of Jenkins, starting with his penchant for attention to technical detail. "We watch every little thing on film," Gilmore said. "Coach breaks it down from your hands to your feet to eyes. He doesn't miss anything." Like Jenkins, Orgeron has a relentless, infectious enthusiasm that washes away fatigue among his troops. "If Coach could put on pads he would," senior defensive tackle Quentin Thomas said. "If he's tired and doesn't feel like being at practice, you wouldn't know it. He has the same energy every day. I've never been around a coach like him." It took a few practices for the D-line to get used to the Coach O way, which is all out effort in whatever needs to be done. "Our individual drills are NFL stuff and we start them full speed and end them even faster," sophomore defensive tackle Davon Godchaux said. "When we first started doing them at that speed, we were like, 'Is this man (Orgeron) crazy?' "Then we realized he's not crazy. He's coached at every level. He's coached players like Warren Sapp. When he hollers, I listen." So do the rest of the defensive linemen. They understand there is a method to Orgeron's madness that will be revealed once the season opens Sept. 5 vs. McNeese State. "I love the way Coach pushes us to the limit," defensive end Lewis Neal said. "We're always doing something to get better. When we're tired, he somehow gets us to the next level." The explanation for Orgeron's consistent day-to-day intensity is simple. He's home. "I feel like it's an honor to represent the people of Louisiana, and all the ex-LSU players and coaches," Orgeron said. "I want them to be proud of this team."
I feel good about this team, but tight ends and defensive linemen still have lot to prove as well as the quarterback. Nobody is talking about it, but we need very good special teams year with more consistency on field goals and dominating kick defense. If Peveto, Steele and Cameron can get everything to gel on September 12, we will know more.
It seems like I've said this 1 million times. LSU will not be elite in the nation again until CLM resigns. Look at Texas, & Tennessee. Mack Brown and Fulmer stayed on too long and the rebuilding process after that too great. Cut our losses now why we still can compete. If Ole Miss and Mississippi State finish better than us in back to back seasons , that will be all the signs we need.
Yep, many couldn't wait to get rid of Cholly Mac, lots of bad years after he left LSU. Great ride. After Fulmer left Tenn., their 6 year record, 7-6, 6-7, 5-7, 5-7, 5-7 and 7-6. Got a long wait if you want Les to resign.
You fail to mention that Tennessee was 5-7 when he was fired. So they were either the same or better as compared to when he was let go.
@LSUDad your entire defense of CLM is based on the fact that you have enjoyed the run that LSU has been on since the late 90's. For some reason you don't have a problem being second in the West. But you have to realize that we've fallen behind and are worried now about Mississippi State. Please open your eyes and stop being content being little brother. CFB has changed and each of the last 2 seasons has shown us that if CLM refuses to change he has 2 go
I just give the stats, do what you want with them. If Les has a bad year, like you are saying, things will take care of itself. MooU had the perfect storm last year, I said this. Lets see how they do this year. But like I said, this year will handle itself.
Tennessee isn't the recruing hotbed that Louisiana is. Fuller's biggest problems was that talent level fell way off. Despite Mile's obvious shortcomings LSU still does a great job of maintaining a very high level of talent. Get most of the 4and 5 stars in Louisiana and pick off a few from Texas and Florida and you can win enough to avoid a pink slip.
