LSU Football: Why Ed Orgeron made the right choice to not coach in Texas Bowl
By Zach Ragan
Ed Orgeron was in a weird spot as LSU football‘s head coach during the final month of the season.
LSU announced in mid-October that Orgeron wouldn’t be returning to coach the Tigers in 2022.
Orgeron, however, would remain the head coach through the end of the season.
Over the last few weeks of the season, Orgeron was peppered with questions about whether or not he would coach in a bowl game if the Tigers reached six wins. Orgeron was non-commital when answering those questions.
After LSU beat Texas A&M in the regular-season finale, Orgeron announced that he wouldn’t coach the Tigers in a bowl game.
Ed Orgeron made the right call to skip LSU football’s bowl game
In some ways, Orgeron’s decision to not coach in the bowl game was a disappointment. I think a lot of folks would’ve enjoyed seeing Coach O on the sidelines for the Tigers one last time. Despite the lackluster 11-11 record over the last two years, Orgeron still holds a special place in LSU football history. A national championship, no matter how talented the roster, is an impressive achievement by any head coach.
Ultimately, however, I think Orgeron made the right call to skip the bowl game.
The game against Kansas State was a no-win situation for the Tigers. LSU barely had enough scholarship players to play the game. They didn’t even have a scholarship quarterback (though wide receiver Jontre Kirklin did a great job playing quarterback in his final game at LSU).
Orgeron went out on top — as much as he could in a 6-6 season — by stepping down after knocking off Texas A&M.
The lasting image of Orgeron for LSU fans is him walking off the field on a Saturday night in Baton Rouge as a winner.
No one was going to be able to lead the Tigers to a win against Kansas State in the Texas Bowl. LSU’s 42-20 loss was hardly a surprise given the severe lack of depth.
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Orgeron has already gone through enough the last two years. The last thing he needed was to be criticized for a result completely out of his control.