Ed Orgeron expresses interest in returning to LSU, reuniting with Lane Kiffin
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Ed Orgeron was the head coach at LSU from 2016-21, and he was the Tigers’ defensive line coach in 2015 before replacing the fired Les Miles as interim head coach early in the 2016 season.
Orgeron has a past in Baton Rouge and, according to an interview he gave on a Jacksonville radio station on Tuesday, he has a desire to make LSU part of his present again. During the interview on 1010 XL/92.5 FM, Orgeron spoke about a range of topics, including the hiring of his old friend and coaching colleague Lane Kiffin as LSU head coach.
Kiffin and Orgeron have crossed paths a couple of times in their careers, coaching together at Tennessee and USC, and Orgeron said he has a definite interest in returning to Baton Rouge and coaching under Kiffin.
“I’d consider it, yes,” Orgeron said. “I’d definitely consider it. No question. Lane and I have worked together at 3 schools. I love him. He and I are good friends. I believe in him. So, definitely, if he does ask me (to return to LSU), I’d consider it. No question.”
Making the possibility of a reunion more intriguing is that Orgeron has moved back to Baton Rouge from Miami. His lease had expired at his home in Miami, and Orgeron didn’t want to be tied down there just in case a job opening came up. Well, now that Kiffin is at LSU, maybe an opening for Orgeron comes up there.
Orgeron, ironically, was also the head coach at Ole Miss from 2005-07, so he has that in common with Kiffin, too. Both coaches now have Ole Miss and LSU on their head coaching portfolios and, just maybe, they’ll be coaching together again in Baton Rouge in 2026. Orgeron loved the Kiffin hire for LSU, saying it was “exactly what LSU needed.”
Time will tell if that Orgeron-Kiffin reunion happens, but Orgeron is definitely interested in it happening.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
