LSU Football: Ed Orgeron’s attitude while leaving LSU is admirable
By Zach Ragan
LSU football‘s coaching situation this season easily could’ve been very ugly.
It was fairly obvious from early in the season that things weren’t going well for Ed Orgeron and the Tigers.
Once LSU lost to Kentucky by 21 points, it was evident that a coaching change was likely going to happen.
I assumed this would be a situation where Orgeron would fight to keep his job. Things would get nasty and there would be a bitter breakup.
Fortunately, the opposite happened.
LSU Football and Ed Orgeron have handled parting ways extremely well
Orgeron didn’t fight Scott Woodward’s decision to make a coaching change. Coach O knew that LSU wasn’t playing to the LSU standard.
Once Orgeron essentially became the Tigers’ “interim coach”, it became clear that he was going to coach for the kids the rest of the season and not himself.
"Orgeron: “For me, it’s always been about the team. Nineteen seniors, their last home game, so I’m going to think about them first. I want to send them out the right way. I don’t think it’s going to hit me until the end. I really don’t think that way, but I am appreciative of the time I’ve had here. A lot of great days.”"
Orgeron has tried to make the final games of the season about the players. He hasn’t tried to make folks feel sorry for him.
“I ain’t had a bad day yet,” said Orgeron this week. (via 247Sports). “I’m not going to have a bad day. I think I’m going to make it.”
There are plenty of things that Orgeron could’ve done differently during his time in Baton Rouge.
After the 2019 season, it felt like Orgeron lost his fire. He reached the mountaintop finally as a head coach, and instead of focusing on staying at the mountaintop, he focused on the excitement of reaching the summit.
If Orgeron has one fault, it’s that he never stopped thinking about the 2019 season. That’s understandable, though. There are only a few men on this planet that have led a college football program to a national championship.
One thing, however, that you can’t fault Orgeron on is his love for LSU. He wants to do what’s best for the program — even if he means someone else leading the program.
Next. LSU should stay away from Matt Campbell. dark
His love for the Tigers is obvious. And it’s good to see that he’s leaving LSU on good terms. He’s a coach that should always be welcome around the program.