Multiple media outlets are reporting today that LSU will part ways with head coach Ed Orgeron at the end of the season:
BREAKING Ed Orgeron will NOT be brought back as LSU’s head coach after this season but will finish the year, per sources, as @RossDellenger first reported … Orgeron led LSU to the 2019 national title but is being let go 21 months later. The Tigers (4-3) beat No. 20 UF Sat.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) October 17, 2021
Apparently, this was in the works for quite some time:
#LSU and Ed Orgeron have reached a separation agreement: He will not return in 2022 but expected to complete this season, sources tell @SINow.
Negotiations began last week before UF win.
It’s unprecedented in the sport – coach & school divorcing 21 months after winning it all.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) October 17, 2021
And it won’t be cheap as LSU will reportedly pay the soon-to-be ex-head coach the entirety of his $17 million buyout:
LSU is expected to pay Ed Orgeron his entire buyout which is over $17 million to pursue a new coach. His record at LSU is 49-17 and he went 13-5 in games against Top 10 teams while coaching the Tigers.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) October 17, 2021
So, how did we get here?
How did Ed Orgeron go from an #LSU national championship to fired in 21 months?
It's a story of off-the-field behavior, poor decisions and a whittling away of what brought success.
"He lost track of who he was."
Our deep dive: https://t.co/vczWSsoWye
— Brody Miller (@BrodyAMiller) October 17, 2021
Well, The Athletic article above says it was multiple issues, including comments Orgeron made about Donald Trump in 2020 as well as how he handled protests over the death of George Floyd:
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There were coordinator hires of coaches Orgeron admits to not fully interviewing and embarrassing interactions with fans. There were viral photos of him in bed with women. There were political comments that fractured the locker room and a poorly handled racial inequality protest. And there was a roster that lacked the leadership of LSU’s 2019 title team. All of this under a new athletic director who didn’t hire Orgeron and had no built-in loyalty to him.
Here’s the segment that reportedly got him in trouble:
LSU Football Coach Ed Orgeron: "I love President Trump…I think he's doing a fantastic job." pic.twitter.com/C97Uhh2gPL
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 11, 2020
The Trump comment was also mentioned as one of the factors in last year’s 5-5 finish:
Wow.
“There were myriad factors that produced LSU's 5-5 season, one of the major ones being a turbulent environment inside LSU's football operations building following Orgeron's public support of former President Donald Trump.” https://t.co/A5pd1vHA54
— Matt Scalici (@MattScalici) March 17, 2021
But The Athletic also mentioned Orgeron’s personal behavior after his divorce. . .
Ed Orgeron a wild boy https://t.co/8zJcHEGvev pic.twitter.com/COM8nWhYrT
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 17, 2021
. . .and there was this incident involving the pregnant wife of a “high-ranking LSU official”:
It created messes for him, like the time Orgeron pulled up to a woman at a gas station wearing exercise attire. “Hey, you look like you work out,” he said, according to multiple sources. “We could work out together.” The woman informed Orgeron she was married and pregnant, to which he responded, “Why does that matter?”
That woman was the wife of a high-ranking LSU official. Word of this reached the LSU Board of Supervisors, the collection of prominent Louisiana attorneys and business owners appointed by the governor who make the most important decisions at LSU. And of course, it reached LSU athletic director Scott Woodward.
Yeah, that’s never a good idea.
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