Edward James Orgeron Jr. (; born July 27, 1961) is an American football coach. He was most recently the head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), a position he held from midway through the 2016 season until the 2021 season. Orgeron previously served as the head football coach at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) from 2005 to 2007 and was the interim head coach at the University of Southern California (USC) in 2013. He led the 2019 LSU Tigers football team to a national championship, beating the defending champions Clemson in the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship.
Orgeron played college football as a defensive lineman at LSU and Northwestern State University.
Early years and playing career
Born to Edward "Ba Ba" Orgeron Sr. (d. 2011) and Cornelia "Co Co" Orgeron on July 27, 1961, Orgeron and his brother Steve grew up in Larose, a town on the Bayou Lafourche in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. He is of Cajun descent. Orgeron attended South Lafourche High School in Galliano, Louisiana with future Michigan Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Bobby Hebert. Orgeron and Hebert played on the school's Class 4A state championship team in 1977. Orgeron signed to play football at Louisiana State University, but left the program after his first year to transfer to Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
Coaching career
Early coaching years
Orgeron began coaching in 1984 as a graduate assistant at Northwestern State and the following year coached at McNeese State in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He then served two years as an assistant strength coach under Ken Hatfield at the University of Arkansas. In 1988, he began his tenure with the University of Miami, under then-head coach Jimmy Johnson and his successor, Dennis Erickson. He was their defensive line coach for four of those years, in which he coached eight All-Americans (including NFL first-round draft choices Cortez Kennedy, Russell Maryland and Warren Sapp). While he was with the Hurricanes, the program won two national championships (in 1989 and 1991), and he recruited a young Dwayne Johnson (later known as "The Rock" in his professional wrestling and film careers) as a defensive lineman.
Starting in 1991, a series of personal problems began to surface for Orgeron. A local woman filed a restraining order against Orgeron, accusing him of repeatedly attacking her. In July 1992, Orgeron was arrested for his part in a bar fight in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Orgeron acknowledged he had been intoxicated that night and had grown angry when not allowed back inside to retrieve his credit card. In October 1992, Orgeron took a leave of absence from the University of Miami coaching staff for personal reasons; the departure turned out to be a permanent one, however and he was replaced by assistant coach Randy Shannon. Taking a respite from coaching, Orgeron worked on his personal life: the permanent injunction against him was eventually rescinded and the felony second-degree battery charges he faced were dropped. He stayed with his parents in Larose, crediting his father for helping him get his life in order.
Orgeron returned to coaching in 1994 but as a volunteer linebackers coach at Nicholls State University. The following year, he moved from the south to the northeastern U.S., accepting a job with head coach Paul Pasqualoni's staff at Syracuse University, where he coached the defensive line for three years. Orgeron credited Pasqualoni for giving him a second chance at major-college coaching (after his prior personal issues had damaged his 'hireability') and helping him develop as a coach on and off the field.
USC
In 1998, Orgeron was hired by offensive guru Paul Hackett, the newly hired head coach of USC (the University of Southern California), to coach the Trojans defensive line. After Hackett's 2000 firing, Orgeron was one of a handful of coaches retained by Hackett's replacement, Pete Carroll, a defensive specialist. The two had met during a high school football game when Carroll was still only a candidate for the head coach position and connected over their shared passion for recruiting. During the Carroll years, USC enjoyed much success, including two (Associated Press) National Championships. Orgeron took on the added responsibility of Recruiting Coordinator in 2001 and was named assistant head coach in 2003. Orgeron won National Recruiter of the Year honors in 2004, the same year he was hired by Ole Miss to replace head coach David Cutcliffe.