What LSU coach Orgeron learned at Ole Miss
OXFORD — In three seasons as the head coach at Ole Miss, Ed Orgeron won 10 football games total.
This week, Orgeron has a chance to win his 10th game of this season alone when he returns to Oxford as the coach of the LSU Tigers, No. 1 in the Amway Coaches Poll and College Football Playoff rankings.
Orgeron coached at Ole Miss between 2005 and 2007, posting a 10-25 record with a 3-21 mark in SEC play. Since then, Orgeron has spent time in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints and in college at Tennessee, Southern California and LSU.
Once a coach who struggled to keep Ole Miss out of the basement of the SEC, Orgeron has turned into one of the nation’s most successful coaches. Counting stints as the interim head coach at USC and LSU, Orgeron’s record is 40-11 since being fired by Ole Miss.
Orgeron explained on the SEC coaches’ teleconference Wednesday why he thinks he’s more successful now than he was during his days in Oxford. He said he learned as much about what not to do as he did about what he’s supposed to do.
And the biggest difference between Orgeron then and Orgeron now seems to be trust.
“After things didn’t work out, I changed some things and some approaches that I had to see if they’d work,” Orgeron explained. “I finally got the coaching staff that I really believed in and obviously I have great talent [on the roster]. But I’m very appreciative of my time in Oxford.”
The return
Saturday won’t be the first time Orgeron has returned to Oxford since 2007.
Orgeron first came back in 2009 as Tennessee’s defensive line coach in a game that Ole Miss won 42-17. He returned again in 2015 as LSU’S defensive line coach, and Ole Miss won 38-17.
In 2017, as LSU’S head coach, Orgeron got his first win over the Rebels in Oxford, winning 40-24 against one of hisformer assistants, Matt Luke.
Luke, who was Ole Miss’ interim head coach in 2017, worked on Orgeron’s staff in 2005 before leaving to work at Tennessee in a reunion with former Ole
Miss coach David Cutcliffe.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for him and his work ethic,” Luke said of Orgeron. “Obviously on the recruiting side of it, he does a good job. He has done a really good job there of being himself. They’re the No. 1 team in the country for a reason because he’s done an outstanding job.”
Orgeron said he thinks Luke is an “excellent choice” to be Ole Miss’ head coach, because of his knowledge, ability and love for Ole Miss. Reflecting on their time working together, Orgeron credited
Luke for helping him acclimate to the job in 2005, especially on the recruiting trail.
“When I first got there, Matt and I recruited two weeks together,” Orgeron said. “He showed me the state of Mississippi. Outstanding coach. Very enthusiastic. Great recruiter.”
As for this year’s Ole Miss team, Orgeron said he’s impressed with the transformation of the Rebels’ defense. He compared Ole Miss defensive coordinator Mike Macintyre’s 3-4 philosophy to that of his own defensive coordinator, Dave Aranda. And he said he’s been watching Ole Miss on tape all season through evaluating common opponents and has noticed significant growth in the unit from a season ago.
Ole Miss and LSU face off at Vaughthemingway Stadium at 6 p.m. on Saturday night. The game will be televised on ESPN.
Contact Nick Suss at 601-408-2674 or nsuss@gannett.com. Follow @nicksuss on Twitter.