LSU Football: A great example of why Ed Orgeron is such a great head coach
By Zach Ragan
LSU football head coach Ed Orgeron is taking the right approach to quarterbacks this week.
LSU football will be without starting quarterback Myles Brennan this weekend against South Carolina.
Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron confirmed on Thursday that Brennan will miss the game due to injury. Brennan, who started the first three games of the season for LSU, suffered a torn abodomen in the loss to Missouri. Brennan was able to finish the game, but the injury will force him to miss at least this week’s game.
With Brennan on the shelf, it means LSU will need to turn to one of its two true freshmen quarterbacks.
Coach O told reporters on Thursday that TJ Finely, a former three-star recruit, will get the start over fellow true freshman Max Johnson.
“It was a very close battle, but at the end we felt that T.J. nudged Max just a little,” said Orgeron on Thursday (via Rivals).
“It could’ve been the flip of a coin, honestly. That’s how close it was. And T.J. may have had one or two more plays in third down than Max did — that’s all that was.”
Both true freshmen could play for LSU football this weekend
Even though Finley will get the start for LSU this weekend, Orgeron is still hoping to play both quarterbacks.
“Hoping” is key here.
It’s possible that Finely gets hot and Coach O can’t take him out of the game. Orgeron isn’t promising Johnson that he’ll play, even though that’s the plan.
“I just wanna give ’em both a chance. But it all depends on the flow of the game,” explained Coach O on Thursday.
“Shoot, you might get in the game and T.J. gets hot. I’m not gonna take him out. And we’re not gonna be impatient with him either. But I do wanna play both. I wanna see what both of ’em can do.”
I love that Orgeron isn’t making any promises to Johnson. This is the kind of transparency that’s common with great head coaches.
It might not be easy for Johnson to ride the bench if Finley gets hot, but at least Johnson knows it’s a possibility.
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Managing expecations for players is key for head coaches. And it’s clear that Orgeron is doing a good job in that department.