Lane Kiffin is getting the band back together at LSU football. On Wednesday night, the Tigers announced the hiring of Ed Orgeron as a special assistant to recruiting and defense under Kiffin.
This is far from the first time Kiffin and Orgeron have worked together. From 2001-04, both were assistant coaches at USC. In 2009, when Kiffin got the head coaching job at Tennessee, he hired Orgeron as the associate head coach, defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.
After Kiffin left abruptly for USC after one year leading the Vols, Orgeron followed him and was named the Trojans’ defensive coordinator and ultimately interim head coach after Kiffin was fired in 2013.
Ed Orgeron is returning to LSU and will serve as the special assistant to recruiting and defense for the Tigers pic.twitter.com/dfmnEeWpsW
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Orgeron has strong ties to LSU, as well. He played for the Tigers in 1972 as a defensive lineman before finishing his career at Northwestern State. After Kiffin’s tenure at USC went up in flames, Orgeron took a year off before joining LSU.
From 2015-16, he served as the defensive line coach for the program under Les Miles. Following the firing of Miles, Orgeron was named the head coach of the program. This was his second stint as a head coach after leading Ole Miss from 2005-07. As the head coach of LSU, Orgeron fielded one of the best teams in college football history and won the 2019 national title.
Orgeron was ultimately fired in 2021 and replaced by Brian Kelly. Following this stretch as a head coach, Orgeron stepped away from coaching until Kiffin came calling.
Kiffin is entering his first year as the LSU head coach to replace Kelly. He joins after spending 2020-25 as the head coach at Ole Miss.
