Ed Orgeron regrets following Lane Kiffin to Tennessee in 2009
By Andrew Olson
Published:
One storyline we’ll be hearing a lot about in the next two weeks is the friendship between LSU interim head coach Ed Orgeron and Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin.
The two have coached together at various spots over the years dating back to 2001, when both were on the Southern Cal staff. When Kiffin got the head coaching job at Tennessee in 2009, he wanted Orgeron as one of his assistants.
It turns out Orgeron had another very attractive job opportunity: LSU.
“I thought about reneging on the Tennessee deal. I left earlier in the morning and when I landed on the tarmac in Tennessee, I got an (LSU) offer that was kind of hard to refuse,” Orgeron told The Advocate’s Ross Dellenger. “The reason I had gone to Tennessee is because Lane and I were good friends, and I wanted to coach under Monte Kiffin’s defense.”
The Kiffins would only coach in Knoxville for one season before Lane would take the USC job. Orgeron regrets not joining Miles’ staff instead.
“Every day,” Orgeron said.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
