LSU's Ed Orgeron Makes a Giant Climb in Coach Rankings By CBS Sports After National Championship Run
LSU head coach Ed Orgeron climbed a whopping 26 spots to No. 4 in CBS Sports’ Top-25 Power Five Coaches rankings after capturing his first national title in 2019.
While the hiring of passing game coordinator Joe Brady and defensive coordinator Dave Aranda made for an unstoppable one-two punch, Orgeron’s ability to continue to recruit at an elite level and adapt to the new age of college football transformed him into one of the top coaches in the country.
“Orgeron is a fantastic story,” said Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports. “Nobody thought he'd be a head coach again after his failure at Ole Miss, and many believed LSU blew it when they missed out on Jimbo Fisher and then Tom Herman, instead retaining Orgeron full-time after a stint as interim coach.
Being a CEO requires tough decision-making. When Nick Saban realized the landscape of college football was evolving, he went out and hired Lane Kiffin in 2014. While it was clear their personalities weren’t exactly the perfect match, it was a business decision, and it paid off.
In LSU’s case, hiring Joe Brady was the spark the city of Baton Rouge had been craving for decades, and Orgeron deserves a ton of credit for ripping the band aid off and bolstering the Tigers from the stone age to the modern era.
“Orgeron did something so few people are capable of accomplishing,” Fornelli added. “He not only recognized his past mistakes, but he actively went out of his way to solve them. He looked at his program, saw the shortcomings and found ways to improve it. Then he reaped the rewards.”
Orgeron checks in at No. 4 behind Alabama’s Nick Saban (1), Clemson’s Dabo Swinney (2), and Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley (3). While it’s true that Orgeron defeated all three coaches ahead of him on the list, it seems obvious he’s going to need to post a string of elite campaigns in order to make the ultimate leap ahead.
Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly sits behind Orgeron to round out the Top 5.
“Well, to this point, Saban hasn't lost his spot,” Fornelli said. “He's won five national titles with the Crimson Tide and six overall. The program he's built at Alabama has been so dominant that, when it missed out on the College Football Playoff for the first time in history, you could almost hear a gasp across the entire country. Alabama is the standard to which every other program holds itself, and that's due to the expectations Saban sets forth for his program.”
Orgeron’s relentless determination and drive has always been fueled by his doubters. No matter how many titles or National Coach of the Year awards he takes home, he never forgets them.
With LSU recruiting at a national stage, expect Orgeron to reserve a seat atop these rankings for the foreseeable future.
