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A Larose native is a high-ranking member of the LSU football staff.
After one season in purple and gold, he said the entire experience is one which he will never forget. He said that he can’t wait for more.
South Lafourche graduate and LSU defensive line coach Ed Orgeron talked to The Times this past week about his first season in Baton Rouge, calling his job one of the best in the world.
Orgeron said being a coach for the Tigers is something he’s always wanted to do in his long, storied career, which has also included stops at USC, Miami and Syracuse on the college ranks and in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints.
“It’s been fantastic,” Orgeron said. “It’s an experience that you can’t experience anywhere else. Coaching at LSU is something I’d had my eyes on for a while, so to be able to represent our great state of Louisiana as an ol’ Bayou Boy from down that way, it makes it all just extra special.”
Orgeron wasn’t afraid to talk about the wild and crazy season that the LSU team had.
He said that he and the LSU coaching staff “obviously” heard and read about all of the speculation regarding head coach Les Miles’ future in the final weeks of the season. He called the situation “bizarre,” and said it was “one of the craziest things I’ve ever been a part of.”
“It was wild,” Orgeron said with a laugh. “As coaches, you like to say that you stay clear of those things, but you’d have to live in a bunker to have not known what was flying around and being tossed out there.”
But despite the speculation and circus-like atmosphere, Orgeron said Miles never let things become distracting to the team – even in the most tumultuous times.
Orgeron called Les Miles one of the best head coaches he’d ever worked for and praised his perseverance throughout the season.
He said the coach deserved another year at LSU, touting that there were a lot of factors that went into the team’s late-season struggles.
“Les Miles is a great coach and a great, great man,” Orgeron said. “I’ve learned so much from him, and I’m absolutely honored to be part of his staff. Everything about Coach Miles is about family. He wants everything to be family. He welcomes our wives and kids to be around, and he’s just a great, great man.
“He handled that whole situation so well. We never stopped preparing. We always had our complete focus on the next game. He never let it become a story in our meetings or in our building.”
Because of the freedom Miles gives his assistant coaches, Orgeron said he was able to coach the LSU defensive line to progress in 2015 – even with some obstacles that were present with personnel.
Orgeron said the 2015 Tigers defensive line was very small for SEC standards – a group that was sometimes outweighed by 50 or 60 pounds per man against the biggest SEC teams.
The coach said he liked the grit of his team, but added that sometimes, it was too much to overcome.
“We have to get bigger,” Orgeron said. “The games we had the most trouble were against the teams full of guys who are 6-foot, 5-inches and who are 330 pounds. It’s hard for us to compete against that. We have to get our guys bigger and more equipped to handle those situations.”
Orgeron is exactly the man to do that.
The former Tarpon is noted around coaching circles as one of the best recruiters in college football – a guy who has spearheaded several recruiting classes ranked among the best in the country.
At LSU, it looks like that trend will continue, as the Tigers have several top-tier commitments and are in the running for more before National Signing Day in February.
Orgeron said he loves recruiting, but couldn’t explain why he’s so good at it.
He said that he believes there’s just something to be said about a coach who is honest and who doesn’t try to do too much while on a visit.
Orgeron is a Cajun man, and he doesn’t hide it. His thick, heavy Louisiana accent charms recruits – just as much as his love for gumbo, hunting and fishing.
“I just go and be myself,” Orgeron said. “I like to build relationships and make connections. I’m a people person. And, of course, when you’re at LSU, you have advantages, because you’re selling a product these kids want to buy. All of those things added together, and I think it’s allowed us some success. We love it at LSU. It’s the best job in the world. We can’t wait to continue on and see where things go.” •
