Orgeron eager to help Tigers win

BATON ROUGE, La. — As much as Ed Orgeron might have preferred a different route to the top coaching job at LSU, the Louisiana native was never going to be able to hide his enthusiasm for the role.

“It’s a great day in my life, I promise you that,” Orgeron said, calling it “a dream, obviously” to be the Tigers’ head coach. “And I understand the expectations at LSU, and I fully, fully intend to meet all of those expectations.”

The 55-year-old Orgeron, who was formally introduced as Les Miles’ interim replacement on Monday, said he has no idea whether he’ll have the job past this season.

“Take the future aside. Whatever’s going to happen is going to happen. Let the chips fall where they may,” Orgeron said, adding that his sole focus was on his players’ success. “All I want to do is see them win.” Orgeron said he’s tapped current assistant Steve Ensminger, a former LSU quarterback, to replace offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, who was fired on Sunday along with Miles.

Orgeron elevated defensive coordinator Dave Aranda to associate head coach. As for Orgeron’s old position as defensive line coach, he’s adding Pete Jenkins, who is 75 years old and has had two previous stints as a defensive assistant at LSU since 1980. Orgeron said Jenkins would be his “mentor.”