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October 9, 2013Will 2013’s great prep team please stand up?
October 9, 2013
A South Lafourche High School graduate is now USC football’s interim head coach.
With the ouster of embattled coach Lane Kiffin from the Trojans’ program, USC Athletics Director Pat Haden announced that Larose native and defensive line coach Ed Orgeron will be the team’s head coach for the remainder of the season.
The 52-year-old coach will be responsible for leading the team in its final eight games of 2013 – beginning Thursday against Arizona at 9:30 p.m.
Orgeron’s hiring marks the second time he is staked with coaching a major college program. He was also the head coach of Ole Miss from 2005-07, posting a 10-25 record in his three seasons with the team.
“Coach O brings an incredible passion,” Haden said when announcing Orgeron as interim coach. “We think he can do a great job under these circumstances. We have a lot of big games ahead of us. We have a lot to play for this season. … Ed will bring the fun and joy back into the game.”
For Oregon, running USC’s program will mark arguably the biggest assignment of his already-storied coaching career.
In addition to stints with USC and Ole Miss, the local coach has spent time with Northwestern State, McNeese State, Arkansas, Miami, Nicholls, Syracuse, Tennessee and the New Orleans Saints.
Orgeron’s ascent to the Trojans’ head coach comes in his second stint with the team.
Orgeron was USC’s assistant head coach, defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator from 1998-2004 – a golden era of Trojans football that saw the team win both an AP National Championship (2003) and a BCS National Championship (2004) – titles that are now vacated because of the team’s use of Reggie Bush.
Following the 2004 title, Orgeron left Los Angeles and took over the Rebels’ program for three seasons.
Ole Miss did not have a winning season in any of Orgeron’s three years, but the coach’s elite recruiting during his time in Oxford paved the way for the team’s future successes under successor Houston Nutt.
With a second chance to be a head coach, Orgeron said he expects to coach the Trojans to a successful 2013 season.
“I want to thank Pat Haden for trusting me,” Orgeron said. “We had a team meeting and came out of it with a positive vibe. We made a commitment to give it all we’ve got. We have already spoken to our recruits about what is going on and we expect to have a great recruiting class.”
To get USC in the winner’s circle for the rest of 2013, Orgeron will have to navigate USC through a tough remaining schedule.
Following Saturday’s game with Arizona, the Trojans take on Notre Dame, Utah and Oregon State in consecutive weeks.
USC also has to take on national powerhouse Stanford on Nov. 16 and rival UCLA on Nov. 30.
The Trojans are currently 3-2 on the season with wins against Hawaii, Boston College and Utah State and losses against Washington State and Arizona State.
“I want our guys to believe and have a little fun,” Orgeron said.
