LSU Football: Ed Orgeron should not be fired before the end of the season
By Zach Ragan
Most folks predicted that Florida would beat LSU Football on Saturday in Baton Rouge.
I even thought Florida would win.
Boy, were we wrong.
The Tigers fought hard on Saturday and left Tiger Stadium with a 49-42 win over the Gators.
It wasn’t always pretty, but it was a big win in a huge rivalry game.
LSU football still has to fire Ed Orgeron, but it shouldn’t happen before the end of the season
LSU is still probably going to fire Ed Orgeron — unless the Tigers don’t lose a game the rest of the season.
Athletic director Scott Woodward likely wants to hire his own guy. A coaching change is inevitable.
So while I don’t think Saturday’s win changed the plan for the program, I at least think it changed the timeline.
There’s been a lot of talk lately about LSU players “quitting”. ESPN College GameDay host Kirk Herbstreit has been the ringleader of that discussion.
It’s clear after watching the Tigers on Saturday, though, that the team isn’t quitting.
In fact, they played as hard as they have all season.
Orgeron has a lot of flaws as a head coach. But one thing he’s good at is motivating players when everyone has written them off.
He’s done it twice as an interim head coach (at USC in 2013 and LSU in 2016) and he did it last season when the Tigers were 3-5 (they rallied to finish 5-5).
It’s important for recruiting and the future of the program that LSU finishes this season strong. Orgeron, who loves LSU as much as anyone on this planet, is the best option for the Tigers to finish the season.
Next. LSU won the tailgate on Saturday. dark
What happens beyond that is up for debate. But for now, Coach O needs to stay on the sidelines through the end of the season.