LSU Football: Ed Orgeron learned a hard lesson and it cost him his job

LSU football head coach Ed Orgeron made sweeping staff changes after a disappointing 2020 season in an effort to get the Tigers back to the top of the SEC West.

Orgeron hired new coordinators on both sides of the ball — opting for youthfulness over experience.

Coach O hired Daronte Jones to run the defensive side of the ball and Jake Peetz to run the offensive side of the ball.

Both coaches have struggled in their first years as SEC coordinators, though the defensive side of the ball has at least improved from last season.

In 2020, the Tigers allowed 34.9 points per game (No. 98 in the country). This season, LSU is allowing 26.6 points per game (No. 70 in the country). There’s obviously still a lot of room for improvement, but the defense is statistically performing better than it did under Bo Pelini in 2020.

The offense, however, has been disastrous under Peetz’s guidance.

LSU averaged 32.0 points per game (No. 39 in the country) in 2020. That was a dropoff from the incredible offensive numbers the Tigers put during their championship run in 2019, but it was still a respectable season (and that was with three different starting quarterbacks).

This year under Peetz, the offense has taken a massive step backward. LSU is averaging 27.1 points per game (No. 72 in the country).

The Tigers’ offense has seemingly regressed as the season has progressed. LSU has only scored over 20 points twice since the end of September. Now, there have been some injuries that have impacted the Tigers’ offense — losing star wide receiver Kayshon Boutte certainly hurt — but LSU has quality depth. The offense should be performing at a higher level. Questionable playcalling has greatly impacted the Tigers’ ability to be efficient on offense.

Hiring Jake Peetz to run LSU football’s offense was a mistake by Ed Orgeron

Orgeron made a huge mistake by hiring Peetz. And we should’ve known that immediately.

The only reason Peetz was hired is because Orgeron thought he’d be Joe Brady — the wunderkind passing game coordinator who led LSU’s offense to success in 2019.

Peetz worked under Brady with the Carolina Panthers in 2020. Simply working with Brady for one year doesn’t mean a coach will be the next Brady. It just means they worked together.

Orgeron didn’t hire Peetz because of his innovative offensive mind or his playcalling abilities. He hired him because of where he worked in 2020.

Hiring someone because you hope they’re a carbon copy of someone else is never going to work. When Orgeron hired Brady, it worked because he was bringing in fresh ideas.

Peetz is trying to be something he’s not. He’s not a good play-caller. The Tigers have plenty of talent, but it just hasn’t been utilized correctly by Peetz.

Orgeron hired a coach because of who that coach worked with in the past.

That was a mistake. And a tough lesson learned by Orgeron.

And unfortunately for Orgeron, that decision cost him his job.