LSU Football: Ed Orgeron dodged a potentially awkward moment

LSU football head coach Ed Orgeron had a potentially awkward moment on Wednesday.

LSU football head coach Ed Orgeron dodged a potentially awkward moment on Wednesday.

Coach O was speaking to reporters during the weekly SEC coaches’ teleconference when he was asked about Alabama’s offense (the Tigers’ next opponent).

The Crimson Tide have one of the best offenses in the nation this season. In fact, Alabama currently leads the nation in scoring offense with 47 points per game.

Now, here’s where it gets awkward. The architect of Alabama’s offense is Steve Sarkisian. You know, the guy who was hired over Orgeron as USC’s head coach in late 2013.

LSU football’s Ed Orgeron dodged the awkward moment

When Orgeron was asked about Alabama’s offense, it was inevitable that Sarkisian’s name would be mentioned.

Coach O, however, handled the moment with class.

“I’ve known Steve Sarkisian all my life,” said Orgeron (via Rivals). “Great play-caller. I think they’re on track to have the same type of offense that we had last year from what I’m hearing with the same type of stats, so a tremendous offense.”

It’s obvious that Orgeron thinks a lot of Sarkisian as a coach — even though Coach O lost a job to him.

What makes this awkward is that Orgeron made it clear in his recent book that he believed in 2013 that he was a better coach than Sarkisian.

From Faith Driven Athlete:

"Pat and I met later that Monday morning in the head coach’s office at USC. It was very intense – probably as intense as any meeting I’ve ever been in during my career. We met for about thirty minutes.I told him he was making a mistake. “I am the better hire for USC.” I asked him point blank why I was not getting the job. I asked, “Was it because I was never good enough for you?”He couldn’t answer me.I loved USC. I knew I was the better hire."

Orgeron was right, by the way. By late 2015, Sarkisian was no longer the head coach at USC.

Meanwhile, Orgeron now has a ring and Sarkisian is still working his way back up the coaching ladder.

Funny how things work out sometimes.