LSU Football: Coach Orgeron Proves His Worth to Tigers
By Alex Gomez
LSU Football hasn’t lived up to expectations for the last few seasons, but it seems Coach O has them just where they need to be.
Coming in to the year, it might have been easy to say LSU Football might not have the best team on paper. With question marks at quarterback, a tough schedule, and an unproven head coach, no one really knew what to expect heading into 2018. Then all the Tigers did was knock off two top 10 teams, rising to number 5 in the AP Poll. This success didn’t happen overnight, and the success can’t be attributed to just one person… but if you had to give someone credit, it might need to be Coach O.
Since 2016, there has been 20 players selected in the NFL draft, 11 of those being selected in the first 3 rounds. There was talent all around the program, but it was not translating to wins on the field. After a year and a half into his tenure, Coach O finally was able to make this team, his team. With two recruiting classes under his belt, he was able to make this team his own. He returned Steve Ensminger to offense coordinator and retained Dave Aranda, considered one of the premier minds in college football.
After the disappointment in the hire, I truly believe that LSU has come to appreciate the job that he has done here. As someone who loves the state, as someone who appreciates what the Tigers are, Ed Orgeron could not be a better fit for this job. Of course, it might not be hard to agree now that the Tigers are 4-0 and Top 5 on the year, but he always was right for it, even when he struggled. With him being born in Larose and a graduate from Northwestern State in Natchitoches, you can’t find a coach better fit for the culture of his school. And maybe that was never argued, but that fit is what lead us to where we are now. The players love their coach and the coach loves his players, and that might just be the difference in a one-point victory.
With the first real test coming up this weekend, it should elevate the not only the Tigers into national attention, but also the incredible job done here by Coach O, who has saved a program that was drowning. This one is for you Ed, “Go Tigahs!”