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re: Ed Orgeron--He Has Overcome (Book Excerpts)
Posted on 1/2/15 at 8:13 am to timlan2057
Posted on 1/2/15 at 8:13 am to timlan2057
"Meat Market" - Chapter 4: ("Bebe - Part Two)
After leaving Miami in disgrace, Orgeron spent a lot of days sitting on his parents' stoop in Larose, thinking about all he had squandered. He says it wasn't the money or the lifestyle he missed, or even coaching those games on national TV. Instead, he says, he kept thinking about the drills he ran during practice, challenging his players to do better. He missed studying film with his buddies. Maybe most of all, he missed going into high schools and presenting himself as a Miami Hurricanes coach, knowing that statement put him in the hunt.
"I was really worried about him," says Arceneaux, his childhood pal. Football was everything in his life. And he was so devastated."
Orgeron dreaded the thought of having to go into some other line of work: "I really didn't know if I was gonna get another shot."
Then one night in March, 1994, Orgeron got a call from another old buddy, Henry Lafont, a lawyer in Larose who was a booster of Nicholls State, a 1AA school in Thibodaux, just 40 miles away. Lafont asked Orgeron what he was planning on doing.
"Henry, I got nothing," Orgeron said.
Lafont asked if he'd consider working as a volunteer coach. Orgeron said he'd take anything. The next day he got a call from Rick Rhoades, the Nicholls State head coach. Orgeron was back in the game. It didn't matter that he wasn't getting a penny for it.
Every morning, Orgeron got in his mother's old station wagon and headed out, arriving on campus at dawn. After the sun was down, he'd drive back to Larose. "I was the first one in the office and the last one to leave," he remembers. "It was humbling, but I was so happy to be back in a locker room again, putting on a pair of coaching shoes, and getting back out there on the field."
... After about a month with the Colonels, Orgeron told Rhoades he wanted to go on the road and recruit. Rhoades explained that Nicholls didn't have enough travel money in the budget. "Don't worry about that," Orgerong replied. All he needed was a Nicholls State golf shirt and he'd make do. He'd borrow his father's Chevy S-10 truck and pay for the gas himself. Rhoades game him a shot and assigned Orgeron the Lafayette area, Cajun country.
"I had to take some steps back to regain my career," Orgeron says. "And one of those steps was to prove I could still recruit."
On May 1, 1994, the first day of the year that NCAA regs permitted coaches to hit the recruiting road, Orgeron climbed out of bed at 5am. He hadn't slept much because he was so pumped up. He's been going over and over in his mind what he would tell folks when he entered their schools. He couldn't wait. His mother, awakened by her son's bouncing around the house, noticed that he couldn't stop smiling. "Why are you so happy?" she asked him.
"Because I'm getting the greatest gift," he told her. "Today, I get to recruit."
After leaving Miami in disgrace, Orgeron spent a lot of days sitting on his parents' stoop in Larose, thinking about all he had squandered. He says it wasn't the money or the lifestyle he missed, or even coaching those games on national TV. Instead, he says, he kept thinking about the drills he ran during practice, challenging his players to do better. He missed studying film with his buddies. Maybe most of all, he missed going into high schools and presenting himself as a Miami Hurricanes coach, knowing that statement put him in the hunt.
"I was really worried about him," says Arceneaux, his childhood pal. Football was everything in his life. And he was so devastated."
Orgeron dreaded the thought of having to go into some other line of work: "I really didn't know if I was gonna get another shot."
Then one night in March, 1994, Orgeron got a call from another old buddy, Henry Lafont, a lawyer in Larose who was a booster of Nicholls State, a 1AA school in Thibodaux, just 40 miles away. Lafont asked Orgeron what he was planning on doing.
"Henry, I got nothing," Orgeron said.
Lafont asked if he'd consider working as a volunteer coach. Orgeron said he'd take anything. The next day he got a call from Rick Rhoades, the Nicholls State head coach. Orgeron was back in the game. It didn't matter that he wasn't getting a penny for it.
Every morning, Orgeron got in his mother's old station wagon and headed out, arriving on campus at dawn. After the sun was down, he'd drive back to Larose. "I was the first one in the office and the last one to leave," he remembers. "It was humbling, but I was so happy to be back in a locker room again, putting on a pair of coaching shoes, and getting back out there on the field."
... After about a month with the Colonels, Orgeron told Rhoades he wanted to go on the road and recruit. Rhoades explained that Nicholls didn't have enough travel money in the budget. "Don't worry about that," Orgerong replied. All he needed was a Nicholls State golf shirt and he'd make do. He'd borrow his father's Chevy S-10 truck and pay for the gas himself. Rhoades game him a shot and assigned Orgeron the Lafayette area, Cajun country.
"I had to take some steps back to regain my career," Orgeron says. "And one of those steps was to prove I could still recruit."
On May 1, 1994, the first day of the year that NCAA regs permitted coaches to hit the recruiting road, Orgeron climbed out of bed at 5am. He hadn't slept much because he was so pumped up. He's been going over and over in his mind what he would tell folks when he entered their schools. He couldn't wait. His mother, awakened by her son's bouncing around the house, noticed that he couldn't stop smiling. "Why are you so happy?" she asked him.
"Because I'm getting the greatest gift," he told her. "Today, I get to recruit."
5
Posted on 1/2/15 at 8:18 am to timlan2057
That's a pretty cool story on him. Could've easily given it up and did something else but clawed his way back.
Posted on 1/2/15 at 8:25 am to timlan2057
Great read, thanks for sharing. 
Posted on 1/2/15 at 8:37 am to timlan2057
I started running to him at Franco's gym in mandeville within the last 3-4 months. Always nice, always wanting to talk football and you can see he has a passion for the game and to get back into coaching.
We talked after the LSU BAMA game and he was genuinely upset LSU lost that game. Hope things work out for him.
We talked after the LSU BAMA game and he was genuinely upset LSU lost that game. Hope things work out for him.
Posted on 1/14/15 at 9:07 am to timlan2057
Yes, I am bumping my own thread.
He comes off as a buffoon, and for a long time that's how I thought of him.
But there is a lot about Ed Orgeron to admire.
The way he overcame terrible personal problems means that the Ed Orgeron story is ultimately a story of triumph.
I'm thrilled to have him at LSU.
He comes off as a buffoon, and for a long time that's how I thought of him.
But there is a lot about Ed Orgeron to admire.
The way he overcame terrible personal problems means that the Ed Orgeron story is ultimately a story of triumph.
I'm thrilled to have him at LSU.
Posted on 1/14/15 at 9:21 am to timlan2057
quote:
after leaving miami in disgrace
what did i miss
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