In the wake of Brian Kelly‘s departure from LSU over the weekend, many people in and around the sport have been trying to figure out what went wrong down in Baton Rouge for one of the winningest coaches in college football over the past 20 years.
Many reasons for Kelly’s failure as the head man of the Bayou Bengals have been put forth over the past few days, but one of the most common has been his unwillingness to embrace the unique culture and atmosphere that comes with coaching in Louisiana.
If there’s one man who understands and embodies everything that makes LSU and the state of Louisiana so special, it’s former Tigers’ head coach Ed Orgeron. He joined ESPN Radio’s Unsportsmanlike on Wednesday morning to talk about his successor’s unwillingness to embrace the state.
“It looked from the outside that Brian Kelly never embraced the state of Louisiana,” Orgeron said. “When you get those guys on your side, it’s very powerful. I think getting everybody to pull in the same direction like Pete Carroll did, like we did (in 2019), 1 team, 1 heartbeat, that’s going to be the key for the next coach.”
Orgeron also went on to expand upon what it means to “embrace” Louisiana in his eyes, and what goes into being successful as the head coach of LSU.
“Love them (the fans), go out and meet them, be nice to them,” Orgeron said. “When you see them shake their hand, take a picture. You know, be available… Let the players in, and also you’ve got to let the ex-players at LSU come to practice.
“You know, I said when I became the head coach at LSU, ‘This is going to be for the state of Louisiana’. So, when you say that, and you mean it, I think that means embracing the state of Louisiana.”
