LSU Coach Ed Orgeron Named to Dodd Award Watch List Ahead of 2020 Season

LSU coach Ed Orgeron was named to the Dodd Award preseason watch list ahead of the 2020 season on Thursday. It's one of the only coaching awards Orgeron didn't win during the Tigers title run in 2019.

Orgeron is coming off of one of the great national championship runs in college football history, guiding the Tigers to a 15-0 record and an offense that scored an FBS record 726 points. As a result, Orgeron was named the AP Coach of the Year and won the Eddie Robinson, Bear Bryant, George Munger, Walter Camp, Home Depot and AFCA coach of the year awards in the process.

"The Dodd Trophy was established in 1976 to honor the FBS football coach whose program represents three pillars of success: Scholarship, Leadership and Integrity. The award honors the coach of a team with a successful season on the field and equally as important, stresses the importance of academic excellence and desire to give back to the community," the award's website described.

The SEC led the way with Alabama's Nick Saban, Auburn's Gus Malzahn, Florida's Dan Mullen and Georgia's Kirby Smart also being named to the list.

Orgeron faces perhaps his greatest challenge since taking the LSU job as the Tigers lost 14 NFL draft picks and numerous returning players electing to opt out of the 2020 season. Neil Farrell, Kary Vincent, Justin Thomas, TK McLendon, Ja'Marr Chase and Tyler Shelvin have all left the program for various reasons in the last month.

"Guys are going to opt out for different reasons. That's the time we're living in, but we have guys that are going to step up," Orgeron said. "There are some opportunities for new guys to come in and we have a good roster that can handle that. Obviously, I don't want anybody else to opt out. That might be the last one hopefully, but it may not be, but we've got to deal with it."