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The LSU Tigers are already looking for their next head football coach after firing Brian Kelly, and a former Death Valley sideline executive has put his name in the hat for a possible reunion.
Ed Orgeron has a national championship ring with the Tigers, and he said in a recent interview that he would love to don the purple and gold again.
“Are you kidding me? I’m just a phone call away,” he told Unsportsmanlike Radio on Wednesday. “I just have to get in my truck, I could be there today.”
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Ed Orgeron, then head coach of the LSU Tigers, talks with quarterback Joe Burrow after a victory against the Clemson Tigers in the College Football Playoff national championship game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. (Matthew Emmons/USA TODAY Sports)
Orgeron led the Tigers from 2016 to 2021, where his all-star 2019 team, which included quarterback Joe Burrow and receivers Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase, won the national championship with a perfect 15-0 record.
Orgeron went 51-20 in his six seasons at LSU, but he was ousted after a 5-5 campaign in 2020 followed by a 6-6 mark in 2021.
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The Louisiana native is staying in the state, so he said he’ll just need to get his truck ready to head to Baton Rouge. But if he’s not the choice, Orgeron said the next head coach must be one with the Tigers’ unique community.
“When they meet with the candidate, is this the person who can handle the pressures of LSU and embrace the state of Louisiana?” Orgeron said in the interview. “I think that’s one of the things, whether it’s true or not, it seems like from the outside, Brian Kelly never embraced Louisiana State. And when you have those guys on your side, it’s very powerful.”
While he may want to return, Orgeron hasn’t been a head coach since this 2021 campaign. Instead, others who still run programs elsewhere are among the first candidates to be linked to the Tigers.
LSU Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron during a game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on November 27, 2021. (John Korduner/Icon Sportswire)
Among them is Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, who Orgeron knows all too well from spending time together as assistants to the legendary Pete Carroll at USC in the early 2000s. Kiffin also hired Orgeron as an assistant when he was head coach at Tennessee, and when USC came calling the former the following season, the latter followed him to sunny California.
Now, if Kiffin heads to Baton Rogue, Orgeron said he wouldn’t be opposed to working with him again.
“I still have my home in Baton Rouge. I loved it when I coached with Coach (Les) Miles as the defensive line coach. I love the Tigers,” Orgeron said. “And I’m going back to coaching. Of course, I would think about it. Without a doubt.”
Kelly was fired after losing to No. 3 Texas A&M, 49-25, which marked back-to-back losses against ranked opponents. No. 9 Vanderbilt beat LSU the previous week and Kiffin’s Rebels eliminated the Tigers earlier this season, 24-19.
Former college football coach Ed Orgeron cheers on Team USA before the 2025 Ryder Cup at the Black Course at Bethpage State Park Golf Course on September 23, 2025, in Farmingdale, New York. (Michael Reaves/PGA of America/PGA of America via Getty Images)
Kelly was 34-14 with the Tigers over four seasons. He signed a 10-year, $100 million contract to become LSU’s head coach after a successful career with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
