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The LSU Tigers are already searching for their next head football coach after firing Brian Kelly, and one former leader on the sideline in Death Valley put his name in the hat for a potential reunion.
Ed Orgeron has a national championship ring with the Tigers, and he said in a recent interview that he would love to don the purple and gold once more.
“Are you kidding me? I’m one phone call away,” he told Unsportsmanlike Radio on Wednesday. “I just gotta get in my truck, I could be there today.”
Orgeron led the Tigers from 2016-21, when his star-studded 2019 squad, which featured the likes of quarterback Joe Burrow and receivers Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase, won the national championship with a perfect 15-0 record.
Orgeron went 51-20 during his six seasons at LSU, but he was ousted after a 5-5 2020 campaign followed by a 6-6 record in 2021.
LOUISIANA GOVERNOR ASSERTS CONTROL OVER LSU’S FOOTBALL COACH SEARCH FOLLOWING BRIAN KELLY’S DISMISSAL
The Louisiana native remains in-state, which is why he said he’d just have to pack up his truck to get down to Baton Rouge. But, if he isn’t the choice, Orgeron said the next head coach must become one with the unique Tigers community.
“When they meet with the candidate, is this the person that can handle the pressures of LSU and embrace the state of Louisiana?” Orgeron said in the interview. “I think that’s one of the things, whether that’s true or not, it looked from the outside Brian Kelly never embraced the state of Louisiana. And when you get those guys on your side, it’s very powerful.”
While he may want to come back, Orgeron hasn’t been a head coach since that 2021 campaign. Instead, others still leading programs elsewhere are among the first candidates to be reportedly linked to the Tigers.
Among them is Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, who Orgeron knows quite well give their time together as assistants for the legendary Pete Carroll at USC in the early 2000s. Kiffin also hired Orgeron as an assistant when he was head coach at Tennessee, and when USC came calling for the former the next season, the latter followed him out to sunny California.
Now, if it is Kiffin heading to Baton Rouge, Orgeron said he wouldn’t be opposed to working with him yet again.
“I still got my home in Baton Rouge. I loved when I coached with coach (Les) Miles being the defensive line coach. I love the Tigers,” Orgeron said. “And I’m getting back to coaching. For sure I’d consider it. No doubt.”
Kelly was fired after losing to No. 3 Texas A&M, 49-25, which marked back-to-back losses to ranked opponents. No. 9 Vanderbilt defeated LSU the week prior, and Kiffin’s Rebels took out the Tigers earlier this season, 24-19.
Kelly was 34-14 with the Tigers through the course of four seasons. He signed a 10-year, $100 million deal to become LSU’s head coach after a successful career with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
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