It’s official. New Orleans Saints defensive line coach Ed Orgeron will not be joining the LSU football staff as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Coach O is instead heading to LSU’s SEC rival Tennessee where he will join the father-son coaching duo of Lane and Monte Kiffin. Tennessee announced today that Orgeron will work as an assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach. He is expected make upwards of $600,000.
The hire is a coup for Tennessee, which appears to have been in a high-stakes biddin war with LSU to land Coach O. This week, multiple news sources quoted former Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert, a lifelong friend of Orgeron’s, saying his former classmate appeared to be LSU bound. That all changed yesterday, when the Kiffins apparently flew to Destin and made Ogeron a better offer. Orgeron is widely regarded as one of the nation’s top college football recruiters. In his former posts as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at the University of Southern California and as head coach at the University of Mississippi, he was responsible for landing some of the schools’ best recruiting classes.