Ed Orgeron will not return as LSU head coach in 2022

Fait accompli.

What looked like a big win for Ed Orgeron in an upset of No. 20 Florida did not matter when it came to keeping his position of head coach at LSU.

Thr school and the national title-winning coach have reached a separation agreement meaning Orgeron will finish the season but not return in 2022, first reported SI.com’s Ross Dellenger:

#LSU and Ed Orgeron have reached a separation agreement: He will not return in 2022 but expected to complete this season, sources tell @SINow.

Negotiations began last week before UF win.

It’s unprecedented in the sport – coach & school divorcing 21 months after winning it all.

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) October 17, 2021

The school confirmed the parting of ways later Sunday and called a 7 p.m. press conference.

Bruce Feldman of FOX Sports and The Athletic reports Orgeron is expected to receive the entire buyout from his contract. the amount is around $17 million:

LSU is expected to pay Ed Orgeron his entire buyout which is over $17 million to pursue a new coach. His record at LSU is 49-17 and he went 13-5 in games against Top 10 teams while coaching the Tigers.

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) October 17, 2021

It was quite the fall from the greatest heights for Orgeron in Baton Rouge. He is 49-17 in charge of the Tigers after gaining the job full time following a 6-2 interim stint in 2017.

Since the 15-0 national title run in the 2019 season, Orgeron and LSU are have gone just 9-8.

A source familiar with the situation at LSU: “It’s one of those things where no one wanted to be there anymore. The players didn’t want to play for him, the coaches didn’t want to coach for him.”

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 17, 2021

LSU (4-3, 2-2) has five games remaining this season starting with a trip Saturday to Ole Miss where Orgeron was previously the head coach for three seasons.

LSU AND ORGERON TO PART WAYS; COACH O TO LEAD TEAM FOR REMAINDER OF SEASON

BATON ROUGE – LSU and head football coach Ed Orgeron will part ways at the conclusion of the 2021 season, director of athletics Scott Woodward announced on Sunday.

Orgeron, who is in his sixth season as the Tigers’ head coach, will coach for the remainder of the 2021 schedule. Since leading LSU to the 2019 national title, Orgeron and the Tigers have gone 9-8, including a 4-3 mark in 2021. Last year, LSU went 5-5, the school’s first non-winning season since 1999.

“We have very high standards for all of our sports programs at LSU, and we will stand proudly behind our expectations of competing for SEC and national championships year in and year out,” Woodward said. “Our last two seasons have simply not met that standard, and based on our on-field results and our evaluation of the potential for future immediate success, it is time for a new direction.”

Since taking over as head coach of the Tigers four games into the 2016 season, Orgeron has led LSU to a 49-17 mark, with 20 of those victories coming against teams ranked in the Top 25. LSU has beaten 13 Top 10 teams under Orgeron, the second-most of any coach in school history.

Orgeron is the fourth-winningest coach in LSU history trailing only Charles McClendon (137 wins in 18 years), Les Miles (114 wins in 12 years) and Bernie Moore (83 wins in 13 years). His 74.2 winning percentage ranks among the top five in school history, while his four bowl victories trail only McClendon and Miles, who each won seven bowl games.

In 2019, Orgeron led LSU to the most dominant season in college football history as the Tigers beat seven Top 10 teams – the most in any season in the history of college football – on its way to claiming the school’s fourth national championship. Behind the play of Heisman Trophy quarterback Joe Burrow, LSU shattered the Southeastern Conference record book, averaging 48.4 points and 568.4 total yards per game.

Orgeron’s 2019 team won 12 of its 15 games by double-figures, including all three postseason games – a 37-10 victory over No. 4 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game; a 63-28 win over No. 4 Oklahoma in the national semifinals; a 42-25 victory over No. 2 Clemson in the national championship game.

The 2019 season came on the heels of a 10-3 mark in 2018 when the Tigers capped that year with a 40-32 win over seventh-ranked UCF in the Fiesta Bowl.

In his first full season as LSU’s head coach in 2017, Orgeron led the Tigers to a 9-4 mark with victories over No. 21 Florida and No. 10 Auburn and a berth in the Capital One Bowl. Orgeron was elevated to interim head coach of the Tigers four games into the 2016 season and had an immediate impact, directing LSU to a 5-2 mark with three wins over ranked opponents.

He was named head coach on Nov. 25, a day after LSU beat No. 22 Texas A&M. LSU closed out 2016 with a win over Louisville in the Capital One Bowl.

Individually, LSU has produced four national award winners. including the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner in Burrow, 12 first team All-Americas, and 39 NFL Draft picks – 10 of those being first rounders – under Orgeron.

[contentcards url=”https://crescentcitysports.com/orgeron-replacement-could-come-from-almost-anywhere/”]