Not many people, including Paul Finebaum, believed coach Ed Orgeron was long for the job at LSU, especially after losing to Alabama and Florida.

Now sitting days after the beloved Coach O beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa and is a strong contender for the national championship, there’s perspective on Orgeron’s early days as the interim coach at LSU and now as one of the greatest depending on how this season shakes out.

Finebaum shared some thoughts about Orgeron during his regular weekly appearance on the Birmingham-based WJOX, 94.5 FM program “The Roundtable.”

“I’ll never forget the day he was named to replace Les Miles. We all thought the same thing,” Finebaum said. “He’s got one chance in this job, and that’s if he can somehow beat Alabama, and he didn’t. Not only didn’t he beat Alabama, he lost that rescheduled home game, which was at Gainesville and ended up in Baton Rouge against Florida. I thought, I was down there that day, and I thought that was the death knell. Anyway he survived, because of the Tom Herman deal and all that. Give the guy credit, he’s overcome everything imaginable and assuming this continues on, and he wins the SEC and he wins the national championship, it’s one of the greatest transformations in college football history because nobody gave him a chance.”

After Orgeron got the job on a permanent basis, Finebaum said he reached out to Lane Kiffin, who coached with Orgeron at Southern Cal. Kiffin said he’s a great coach, knows how to organize, is a leader, motivates, and is “one of best recruiters I’ve ever seen.”

“That kind of blew me away,” Finebaum said.  “Ed Orgeron is one of the people down there. … He’s relatable. There’s no guarantees, especially in Baton Rouge, but he will certainly get a pass for a very long time if he can pull this off.”

The Tigers play at Ole Miss this week.