Heading into October, some LSU fans were eager to run Ed Orgeron off four games into the 2017 season. The Tigers were coming off an embarrassing home loss to Troy two weeks after being beaten by 30 points in Starkville.

To say the heat was on in Baton Rouge would be an understatement.

Given all that pressure, it’s even more impressive that Orgeron found a way to rally his troops and lead the Tigers to a 5-1 record since that time, with the only loss coming on the road at Alabama. That record includes three wins on the road in the SEC.

During his Sunday afternoon Campus Conversation ESPN podcast, SEC Network host Paul Finebaum and co-host Matt Barrie spoke glowingly of the job Coach O has done over the last two months.

“I will say this, I agree with you completely, watching the interview with him, there’s just pure joy in this guy’s face,” Finebaum said on the program. “He is coaching at LSU, he’s like a kid. I’ve rarely seen a coach… imagine Saban being fired up to be in the rain, talking to an ESPN reporter.

“What you do have to say about him though is — the win over Auburn was significant, but he has two road wins on the SEC East, over Florida and Tennessee, and he could not have gotten two worse Tennessee and Florida teams. This is as bad as it gets. Those are two games in a normal year easily could go the other way, this year, he gets them.”

While crediting the turnaround job, Finebaum doesn’t appear sold on the Orgeron era at LSU. The ESPN host then turned his eye to the future, and with the anticipation of several new hires in the league — many of which could be among college football’s elite coaches — Finebaum is taking a wait and see approach to the job Coach O will ultimately do for the Tigers.

“Give him credit for this year, but it’s going to get more difficult down the road, especially with all the changes that are on the horizon,” Finebaum commented.