STOP IT: No, Odom Doesn't Need to Babysit Orgeron
When the news of Sam Pittman's firing Jermail Ashley on Sunday broke, it took about 15 minutes for someone to start throwing out Ed Orgeron's name.
Some have even taken to writing about bringing the former LSU coach to Fayetteville. It was even admitted they were just throwing stuff out there.
Seriously, though, forget about it.
Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom already has a full-time job and really doesn't have time to babysit Orgeron.
Ed Orgeron's resume is not as impressive as it looks when you actually look at it.
Mark J. Rebilas / USA TODAY Sports
Admittedly, ol' Ed has made the most of a resume that appears pretty impressive until you do a modest amount of research and some actual thinking.
As a position coach with adult supervision, Orgeron did okay. He was a good recruiter when he was at USC, LSU and even Miami.
In other words, at schools where you can do as much choosing who you want to take as begging them to pick you, Orgeron is pretty good at claiming credit for those recruits.
Forget about his brief time with the Razorbacks. He was the assistant strength coach for a couple of years when Ken Hatfield was the coach and basically the staff's entertainment.
Don't get too worked up over his skills as a defensive line coach. He was buddies then with Pete Jenkins, who is the top defensive line consultant in the country, which was covered in great detail by Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger a month ago.
Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Jenkins consults with both teams in the national championship game. Everybody knows it, but it does make for some interesting conversations when certain matchups happen.
Orgeron is over-rated as a position coach and as a recruiter.
In his brief tenure as head coach at Ole Miss he didn't exactly set the world on fire. Hugh Freeze got better players.
When he's had adult supervision, Orgeron has done a pretty decent job at times, particularly at LSU with a 2019 team where everything came together about as perfectly as they can.
He was fired less than two years later.
No, the Hogs don't need Orgeron. He only brings headaches, not solutions.
Besides, Odom has new assistants and players to deal with.
Plus his babysitting fees are a little steep.
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