Is It Too Late for USC To Make Another Run at Ed Orgeron?
Returning from high-caloric New Orleans with a big plate of leftovers…
Hmmm...LSU’s title team is already being gutted. Seven players have declared early for the NFL draft and the Tigers have lost both coordinators, Joe Brady and Dave Aranda. Superdome-star quarterback Joe Burrow’s next pass will be for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Special adviser John Robinson turns 85 in July.
“This is going to be a tough group to replace,” LSU Coach Ed Orgeron admitted Monday.
An arrest warrant was issued Thursday for former LSU receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who butt-slapped slapped a New Orleans police officer in the locker room celebration after Monday night’s game, not long after he handed out wads of cash to LSU players on the field.
This is already sounding like the last days of Pete Carroll’s dynasty at USC.
How long before the Feds (NCAA) step in and shut this operation down?
So, we were thinking out loud: Next year could be a hangover season for Orgeron in the axe-grinder SEC West Division, which is adding Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss) and Mike Leach (Mississippi State) to the best division in college football.
If USC struggles out of the gate (that struggle being Alabama in the opener), and LSU struggles in the Wild Wild SEC West, should new AD Mike Bohn put Orgeron back on his Trojan short list?
It’s true that Brian Kennedy, Coach O’s longtime friend and advisor, described USC football as “dogshit” last Saturday night after Orgeron won the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award in New Orleans.
USC, in case you haven’t noticed, is all over campus cleaning up with giant pooper scoopers. No one who disrespected Orgeron back in 2013 is going to be around much longer.
Also: President Carol Folt and AD Mike Bohn are outsiders and not part of the snobby, insular USC past that insulted Orgeron and put the Trojans in this dog-poo position.
Also don’t forget: Orgeron has long called USC “the best job in college football.”
The problem with what Orgeron just accomplished at LSU is ever again duplicating it.
"Yeah, I think this is a team for the ages," Orgeron said. "...we didn't have a bad game. We beat 15 good football teams. This is going to be hard to beat."
All coaches, even Orgeron, have a shelf life. The glow wears off. Auburn fired Gene Chizik two years after he won the national title in 2010.
Miami fired 2001 national champion coach Larry Coker.
I'd love to get a look inside Mike Bohn's wallet just to see if he carries a list of prospective head coaching prospects. (As he darn well should)
I'd kill to know if Orgeron's name was on it. (It darn well should be).
What…too soon?
***
Sportswriters are often accused of wining and dining on the company dime for no other reason than getting fat and drunk.
Sometimes, though, there is legitimate work involved.
A few of us stayed over in New Orleans to enjoy a Tuesday evening at Commander’s Palace, considered by many the best restaurant in the United States.
It’s located in the Garden District and served as a training ground for chefs Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse.
Commander’s Palace is one of several first-class restaurants owned by the Brennan Family.
Dessert note: Bananas Foster was invented at Brennan’s in New Orleans. Say No More.
So we’re pleasantly surprised when Ti Adelaide Martin stopped by our table to assure us that LSU football, going forward, is in good hands.
Martin is co-proprietor of Commander’s Palace and the daughter of Ella Brennan, the matriarch of restaurant family who died in 2018 at age 92.
Martin told us there would be life after Joe Burrow because the LSU-quarterback-in-waiting is her nephew, Myles Brennan.
Myles, a redshirt junior, had to take a back seat after Burrow transferred to LSU, from Ohio State, two years ago.
Martin said her nephew, who grew up eating at Brennan restaurants, is the right man for the job even though he attempted only 40 passes this season.
Myles Brennan, in an interview after Monday night’s game Geaux247, sounded as confident as Emeril Lagasse, in the kitchen, with a knife in his hand.
“I’ll make sure we get back to here,” Myles said.
There is still a chance the Tigers could seek another transfer to replace Burrow, although we don’t recommend that to anyone associated with LSU seeking a good seat at Commander’s Palace.
***
In 1992, Corky Simpson of the Tucson Citizen made national news as the only Associated Press writer to pick Alabama as preseason No. 1.
Simpson kept Alabama in the top spot the entire season and was rewarded when the Crimson Tide captured one the national title.
Simpson was invited to Tuscaloosa for the title celebration and even rode in the victory parade.
Flash forward to this season: Our very own Mark Blaudschun of TMG picked LSU as his preseason No. 1 and rode the Tigers all the way to last Monday’s championship win over Clemson.
LSU opened the season at No. 6 in the Associated Press and USA Today polls but did not receive a first-place vote in either index.
So, LSU, any room in your parade for our guy?