BATON ROUGE — Coach O is back.
LSU football head coach Lane Kiffin is hiring Ed Orgeron to his staff, sources within the program confirmed to The Daily Advertiser on Wednesday night.
Kiffin is bringing Orgeron in as a special assistant in recruiting and defense, sources said.
Orgeron is a former head coach of the Tigers that guided them to the 2019 national championship and coached arguably college football’s greatest offense of all-time that featured quarterback Joe Burrow. Coach O was fired less than two years after winning the title as LSU went 11-11 over the next two seasons. Over five-plus seasons, Orgeron had a 51-20 record as the Tigers’ head coach.
Last year in an ESPN radio interview after LSU fired Brian Kelly, Orgeron was asked if he’d be game for a return LSU and he said he would.
“I’d love to, you kidding me?” Orgeron said. “I’m one phone call away.”
When asked if he’d consider joining Kiffin’s staff, he said he would.
“I love LSU. I still got my home in Baton Rouge. I loved when I was coaching for coach (Les) Miles being the defensive line coach. I love the Tigers and if I’m getting back into coaching, for sure I’d consider it. No doubt,” Orgeron said.
He was let go in October of the 2021 season. Orgeron has not coached since his firing from LSU and his joining Kiffin’s staff isn’t as surprising as it may seem. The two coaches have had a longstanding friendship and working relationship dating back to the their days at USC more than 15 years ago when Kiffin served as head coach and Orgeron as defensive coordinator.
When Kiffin was fired in 2013, Orgeron served as the interim head coach for the Trojans and both coaches have been the Ole Miss head football coach.
After firing Orgeron, LSU was on the hook for a $16.9 million buyout. Those payments to him concluded this past December.
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Lane Kiffin hires Ed Orgeron to LSU football staff
