Per the Advocate: Orgeron willing to listen to Tigers

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Ed Orgeron said he hasn’t spoken to Miles or anyone from LSU, but he wouldn’t turn the opportunity down if his phone rang.

The 47-year-old Galliano native is in his first season as the defensive line coach for the New Orleans Saints after a three-year stint as the Ole Miss coach.

“I have not been contacted by anybody by LSU and I have a great job with the Saints and love what Sean Payton is doing and really appreciate the opportunity he’s given me,” Orgeron said Monday. “But if something would become available at LSU, being from here and having the great respect I have for the university and people of Louisiana, I’d always be interested in listening to what they had to say.”

This year is the first Orgeron and his family have lived in Louisiana since 1994. His three sons (16-year-old Tyler and 10-year-old twins Parker and Cody) all played football in St. Tammany Parish this season and are “glad to be back home in Louisiana seeing where their dad grew up.”

“We love being back here,” Orgeron said. “That’s a big plus to working for the Saints.”

Or LSU?

“I’ve always been interested in LSU because of the tradition and history,” Orgeron said.

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The Tigers likely won’t be the only college to pursue Orgeron, who was regarded as one of the top recruiters in the country during a seven-year stint at Southern California (1998-2004). He and his staff also loaded up the Ole Miss roster that went 8-4 this season.
Orgeron and Tiffin are close friends, and the new Tennessee coach could make a bid to bring Orgeron to Knoxville.

“If I decide go back to the college game, that would certainly be one of my choices because of my connection with Lane,” Orgeron said. “He’s a great young coach who I have a lot of respect for and I think he’ll have a chance to win a national championship at Tennessee.”

As the Ole Miss coach from 2005-07, Orgeron and Miles went head-to-head on the field and on the recruiting trail. But the former Rebels coach said he considered his relationship with Miles one of “mutual respect.”

Recruiting would be a major appeal for LSU to try to hire Orgeron, and he admitted that he misses that challenge.

“I really enjoyed the competition of going to get the great player,” he said. “I enjoyed the hunt and competing with some of the best coaches in the country. I liked the chance to see young men out there and see something other people didn’t see. That’s one of the things I really miss.”

During his three-year tenure at Ole Miss, Orgeron coordinated the defense — his first stint as a coordinator at any level. He said he would prefer to land a job doing the same at the college level, but would also remain flexible because of his affinity for recruiting.

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