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How LSU and Ed Orgeron Got Here 21 Months Removed From National Championship Run

Moving on from Orgeron hits close to home for LSU as Tigers begin search for new coach
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It was a rise unlike many others and a fall that was unprecedented but Ed Orgeron's time as LSU's football coach will soon come to an end. 

Whenever the clock strikes zero on LSU's 2021 season, Orgeron's tenure will conclude, one that was rife with success and disappointment. He's the third straight LSU coach to lead the Tigers to a championship at a program that demands excellence. 

Orgeron's triumphant 25-3 two year stretch in 2018 and 2019 was one of the great two years this program has had but the following act was below the "standard of performance" this administration and fanbase have come to expect. But glaring issues with how the program has been run over the last two years are coming to the forefront and a big reason why both parties are moving on.

To start with on the field issues, there was a disconnect between the players and coaching staff in 2020 that led to miscommunication and an abysmal season where opt outs and poor coaching hires were headlines of the 5-5 record. Specifically, the Bo Pelini hire was perhaps most glaring of all as the Tigers had their worst defensive season in program history.

The hirings of Daronte Jones, Jake Peetz and other positional coaches like Brad Davis, Andre Carter, DJ Mangas and Blake Baker in 2021 were supposed to fix some of the communication issues. While LSU is certainly not in as bad a position as a year ago, there has been some difficulty with the rhythm of the offense and the up and down nature of the defense. 

Sunday, it was the off the field friction between Orgeron and the LSU administration that began to surface. One report from The Athletic details an incident in which Orgeron, who is recently divorced, drove by and approached a woman at a gas station.

“Hey, you look like you work out,” he said, according to multiple sources in the Athletic story. “We could work out together.” The woman informed Orgeron she was married and pregnant, to which he responded, “Why does that matter?”

As it turned out, this woman was also married to a high-ranking LSU official, according to the report. The story details just one component of Orgeron's life after the 2019 season that derailed the program and soured the relationship between Orgeron and the athletic department. 

But at the end of the day this decision comes down to the wins and losses on Saturday and the purple and gold went 9-8 over the last two seasons and five games remaining in 2021, that record is still to be determined. Orgeron's buyout will be $17 million and on Sunday the Tigers' coach revealed he likely won't coach in 2022.

When asked multiple times over the Sunday press conference, Orgeron said that wasn't for him to decide because he's staying focused on the day to day operations with the team.

"I'm not the one that evaluates myself," Orgeron said. "I let y'all [the media] do that. Y'all do it enough. I could care less about it. I've been really concerned with the day to day process of what's been going on. I've never looked at it like what went wrong or nothing like that. I don't have the answer. If I had the answer what went wrong, I'd have fixed it."

For LSU, athletic director Scott Woodward will be casting a large net to find the next coach. But Orgeron and this 2021 team still have business in front of them and following a win over Florida, there's momentum brewing that this team can finish the season strong.

These next five games will be an opportunity for all parties involved. It'll be a time for Orgeron to go out on a high note and show any future employers what he can still be and an opportunity for this current team to write its own legacy.